Monica Puig will return as an analyst at the US Open

Puerto Rican tennis player Monica Puig will once again sit behind the microphones.

As he slowly recovers from his second surgery on his right shoulder, Puig has announced that he will once again be an analyst for ESPN Deportes, a television network, at the US Open.

Last June, the Rio 2016 Olympic gold medalist made her debut at Wimbledon.

“I loved it. It was a very nice experience and I was there in Bristol (Connecticut) with the team, where we had to do it remotely because of all this illness. But this time they gave me the opportunity to be in person at the US Open from day one to the final, so I will be in Flushing (New York) for two weeks with the ESPN team,” Puig confirmed during a virtual chat held Tuesday with ESPN and several local organizations dedicated to developing multifunctional sports spaces.

The 27-year-old Puerto Rican has always expressed her desire to work in the media once she retires from the courts.

Puig revealed that this new face as an analyst and commentator helped him see tennis from another angle.

“I think it will help me a lot when it comes to getting back on the court because it gives you another perspective on tennis. You don’t watch tennis like you want to be there. I look at tennis with different eyes. You start analyzing the plays and you start seeing the other players’ game, talking about the game and things that one sees. And I loved that aspect.”

“When I retire – I still have a long way to go – I would like to work with the ESPN team, but not just with tennis but with other sports, like baseball. I have a lot of sports. I grew up with sports and being part of ESPN is a dream come true,” Puig added. Even though I’ve had many years in tennis, saying I’ve worked for ESPN is like “wow”.

The US Open will run from August 30 to September 12.

A long way

On the other hand, the triple gold medal winner at the Central American and Caribbean Games knew that her rehabilitation process from surgery would be a long one.

Puig underwent surgery at the end of 2020 and underwent rehab, but the shoulder pain persisted, making it difficult for him to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. In June of this year, he announced that he had undergone a second surgery to repair the rotator cuff and biceps tendon.

“Right now, I’m in a fairly early process of rehab, being my second surgery and a completely different surgery. The process has been a little bit longer and more difficult. But every day I’m trying to feel better,” said Puig, who has not played since September last year. When he lost in the first round of the French Open.