Former world No. 27 Monica Puig suffered a loss on Friday in Madrid but she was all happy and smiling because she had a lot of reasons to be happy about. Puig, who played a total of five matches in 2020 and missed the entire 2021 season, made her long-awaited comeback on Friday in Madrid.
Puig competed well at the start of the match but this year’s Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins claimed a 7-5 6-0 win. In 2019, Puig underwent an elbow surgery. Last June, Puig underwent a surgery to repair her rotator cuff and biceps tendon.
“I don’t know if you guys are ever going to see me with a smile after I lose,” Puig told reporters after the match, as quoted on the WTA Tour website.
Puig on whether she contemplated retirement
“I had thoughts of hanging it up,” Puig said.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen. But I wanted to give myself another shot, another chance to just be here and try and see how far I can get. For me, this is like a huge bonus being on the court for the second half of my career.
“So I’m very proud. It’s kind of ballsy to come to a WTA 1000 to play your first match back, but I don’t think I’m scared of anything anymore.” Puig, 28, drew positives from her lengthy break as she is now much wiser.
“I always said it was a blessing and a curse kind of thing,” Puig said. “But I think it was just a really good period of growth for me. Growth, maturity, understanding myself, understanding who I am as a person, as a woman, and all of these things.
“Because I look back on it now, and I’m like, wow, I was so stupid for so many things. But at the end of the day, I didn’t know any better. I was 22 years old and kind of came out of nowhere, and I wasn’t ready for all of that.
“Now sometimes I see the struggles that the girls nowadays are going through, and while I can sympathize and I know what they’re going through, I wish I could shake them and just say it’s not that big a deal.
Just relax! Because when something is taken away from you and you don’t have any control over it, you just realize how much you want to be there no matter the situation.”
