SAN JUAN, September 14 (EFE) – American tennis player Venus Williams and Puerto Rican Mónica Puig pledge this Thursday in San Juan , they will perform wonderfully in the exhibition game this Friday.
The match at the Puerto Rico Coliseum will mark the return of Puig, the 2016 Rio Olympic champion, after announcing his retirement in June 2022 due to ongoing injuries.
For Williams, who is still active at 43, this is her first visit to Puerto Rico.
Puig, 29, said he was happy to be back on his home island. “Tomorrow will be a great party. We will put on a great ‘show’,” he stressed.
“I’m not thinking about whether I’m going to win or lose, but just enjoy it,” the current sports analyst noted.
After returning to the ring, Puig said he has been preparing, practicing three times a week for an hour each time.
Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist, revealed she accepted the invitation because she “loves playing in places I’ve never been before.”
Likewise, he explained that during his stay in the Caribbean islands he would like to visit the beaches and taste typical dishes such as the famous mofongo, cooked with crushed fried green plantains, in which garlic, oil, pork rinds and some white meat are added, Red meat or add seafood.
The veteran tennis player also acknowledged Puig’s desire and hard work leading up to the Rio Olympics, “She beat great players, gave it her all and always seemed confident moving forward.”
Puig, on the other hand, said he grew up watching Williams on TV, who is also the sister of legendary player Serena Williams, and he remembers meeting her in person for the first time during a public appearance in Miami. During the game, he ran up to her and asked her to have a drink. sign.
The former Puerto Rican tennis player praised Venus as a champion for African Americans and equality in sports who “exhibits the qualities that an athlete should have.”
In addition to their commitments at the Puerto Rico Arena, which seats about 18,000 people, Williams and Puig will offer lessons this Thursday at VRM’s Riviera Tennis Center in the nearby city of Guainabo, San Juan.
In light of this, Puig insisted that the goal of these meetings is for any tennis player to inspire these participating children and young people to “achieve their dreams” because Puerto Rico “has a lot of talent to offer.”
This is not the first exhibition match against a superstar on the island for Puig, who also faced off against Maria Sharapova in March 2020.
Other famous similar matches held on the island include Spain’s Rafael Nadal against Dominican Victor Estrella Burgos in March 2016, while legendary tennis players Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras did the same thing in 2010. EFE
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