Thu, Apr 02, 2020 page16

• Olympic champion Puig discovering new ‘normal’

  • Reuters, NEW YORK
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  With the tennis calendar paused and the Tokyo Olympic Games postponed, Olympic champion Monica Puig finds herself having to navigate a longer runway to her title defense and the long hours of quarantine felt by many communities around the world.

  “The stress levels are always going to be much higher, but thankfully I’m just trying to live my normal routine within the fact that it’s not really normal,” Puig said. “I’m trying to find ways to stay active, stay happy and kind of have a positive outlook on things.”

  Puig fought her way to the upset of her career at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, claiming Puerto Rico’s first-ever Olympic gold by defeating Germany’s Angelique Kerber, a favorite who had claimed the Australian Open title at the beginning of the year.

  

  Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig returns to Germany’s Angelique Kerber in the Rio Olympic Games women’s singles gold medal match at the Olympic Tennis Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug. 13, 2016. Puig defeated Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

  Photo: Reuters

  Coming back from elbow surgery late last year, which sidelined her from the Australian Open, the 26-year-old said that she supported the International Olympic Committee’s decision to delay the Tokyo Games amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

  “It’s very hard right now, to be a normal person right now, with everything that’s going on — especially in a lot of these hard-hit places,” Puig said. “There are athletes all over the world in really badly affected places that cannot train.”

  She keeps busy with her two Pomskys — a Pomeranian-husky mixed breed — who until now she did not entirely realize “how annoying they are sometimes.”

  “I think if I bring a third dog to the house, I’m going to be kicked out myself,” said Puig, who added that she has drawn fitness inspiration from fellow tennis players such as Christina McHale, who she spotted on social media doing deadlifts with paint cans.

  “Trying to see what other athletes are up to — I’ve seen some people getting very creative with their home workouts,” she added.

  The tennis community has been quick to embrace the #TennisAtHome hashtag on social media, as governments worldwide introduce stay-at-home guidelines.

  Swiss great Roger Federer posted a video of himself on Twitter practicing trick shots alone in the snow.

  Retired tennis pro Flavia Pennetta, who won the US Open in 2015, hit some balls with her husband, 11th-ranked Fabio Fognini, using a clothes rack as a makeshift net.

  “People are being very responsible in light of the situation, when we really just want to flatten the curve,” Puig said.
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