Puig stuns Kerber to win first gold for Puerto Rico

RIO DE JANEIRO — Monica Puig won Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal Saturday when she stunned Germany’s Angelique Kerber 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in the women’s tennis singles final. The 22-year-old Florida-based Puig defied her ranking of 34 to get the better of the world No. 2 and Australian Open champion on the back of a sizzling 54 winners. Puig, who also knocked out French Open champion Garbine Muguruza in the quarterfinals, is the first woman from the Caribbean island to win a medal of any sort. Before her golden breakthrough, Puerto Rico had won just eight Olympic medals, two silver and six bronze. Six of that total had come in boxing. Victory for Puig came in a dramatic seventh game of the final set when she saved six break points before taking gold on a fourth match point when a Kerber forehand sailed wide. “Oh my God,” she screamed before breaking down in floods of tears and parading her national flag around center court. Kerber had cruised into the final without dropping a set as the second seed aimed to emulate Steffi Graf who was Germany’s last champion at the 1988. Kvitova won the bronze medal play-off by defeating American seventh seed Madison Keys 7-5, 2-6, 6-2. American veteran Venus Williams became only the second tennis player in history to win five Olympic medals after reaching the mixed doubles final. The 36-year-old teamed up with Rajeev Ram to beat India’s Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna 2-6, 6-2, 10-3 in the semifinal. Britain’s Kathleen McKane also won five medals between 1920-24. Williams and Ram will face fellow Americans Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock who beat Lucie Hradecka and Radek Stepanek 6-4, 7-6 (7/3). Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova won Olympic women’s doubles tennis bronze Saturday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over compatriots, Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka. Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro ended Rafael Nadal’s hopes of a second Olympic singles title with an epic 5-7, 6-4, 7-6, (7/5) win to set up a gold medal showdown with defending champion Andy Murray. The world No. 141 Del Potro, whose career was almost ended by a series of wrist operations, triumphed after three hours and eight minutes of compelling centre court action. Second seed Murray reached his second successive Olympic final with a ruthless 6-1, 6-4 demolition of Japan’s Kei Nishikori. Nadal, the 2008 singles champion, had won the men’s doubles Friday with Marc Lopez but playing his 10th match of the Rio tournament finally caught up with him.