It’s still too early to tell when Monica Puig will return to the courts.
But what is known is that the rehabilitation of her right shoulder is proceeding at a rapid pace ahead of her highly anticipated debut in the 2021 season on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA, for its English acronym) Tour.
“The rehabilitation of Monica is going very well,” said Marin Ball, the agent of the Puerto Rican tennis player. speaker. “It’s progressing tremendously and everything is very positive,” he added.
Puig, 27, has not played for five and a half months after suffering a new injury that has prevented him from participating in several WTA tournaments, including the Australian Open Grand Prix.
The Olympic gold medalist is in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she is recovering under coach and physical trainer Colton Smith.
Puig – ranked 111th in the WTA world ranking, according to the latest update – was unable to train on the court, so her return to competition remains without a specific date.
“It is difficult to set a date for the return of the tour, but it is not very far. It is a bit difficult to say at this stage, but we are heading in the right direction.”
For now, the triple-medalist from Central America will be absent from the Miami Open, which runs from March 23 to April 3, is one of her favorites.
The mud season begins in April in Charleston, South Carolina, and will continue until the end of May, when the Roland Garros Grand Prix takes place in Paris, France.
The WTA also has a grass season on the calendar, which kicks off on June 7 in Nottingham, Great Britain, and culminates at the end of that month with Wimbledon.
The Olympic Games are in danger
From July 24 to August 1 the Olympics will be in Tokyo, where Puig will defend his gold medal.
However, her presence in the Olympic tournament is not certain, as Australian Samantha Stosur is currently the only place designated for gold medalists or Grand Slam winners, given her best position in the world rankings. Stosur, ranked 110 in the WTA, won the US Open in 2011.
Against Puig until June 7, 2021 to achieve a better ranking than Stosur in the global rankings. The top 56 tennis players (four from each country) also qualify for Tokyo.
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) also awards six continental seats and one host country seat.
Puig has not played since September 28, when she was defeated in the first round at Roland Garros.
Due to the pandemic, the Olympian has only played three matches in 2020, without winning.
After resuming the tour was placed in a hiatus due to the epidemic. After that, he was scheduled to play three ITF tournaments between October and November, but chose to end the campaign.
Last year, Puig also missed the start of the recent WTA season, while recovering from surgery to her right elbow that she had had in December 2019.
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