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  • Writer's pictureMichael Nielsen

From Tennis to Marathons: Monica Puig's Journey of Transformation (#48)

Today, I interviewed Monica Puig, former WTA Tennis player.


Monica’s professional career, which spanned for over a decade and with a career high ranking of #27, saw her win one WTA title (Strasbourg in 2014) as well as reaching the finals of four additional WTA events. Monica’s biggest victory, and the one that changed her life forever, came on August 13, 2016 when she became the first ever Gold medal winner for Puerto Rico by winning the women’s singles title at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Following several years away from professional tennis due to lingering shoulder and elbow injuries, Monica announced her retirement from tennis in the spring of 2022 and has since transitioned into a role with ESPN, where she covers a number of tennis events around the world as both a commentator, host, and guest analyst.


In 2022, Monica ran her first full marathon at the New York City Marathon, with plans of running two more marathons in the coming year including the Boston Marathon in a few short weeks.


Episode Highlights:

  • Monica discusses her transition from her career playing tennis in the WTA to running full marathons

  • We discuss the mindset that is needed when faced with obstacles during a race or training run

  • Monica shares 3 tips for anyone training for their first marathon, and how you can be the most successful with this race distance

  • What Monica misses about playing tennis, and some of the similarities between tennis and running

Follow Monica Puig

  • Twitter

  • Instagram


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