A surprising, yet intriguing, women’s singles final at Rio 2016 sees surprise package Monica Puig face second seed Angelique Kerber for the prestigious gold medal.
With Kerber looking to emulate her fellow German Steffi Graf by winning the singles title at an Olympics, whilst Puig is looking to make history by winning Puerto Rico’s first ever Olympic gold medal.
So far in Rio
Both women have had played some superb tennis to make the final in Rio de Janeiro.
Arguably Puig’s run to the final is more remarkable, considering her unseeded status. The Olympics meant a lot for Puig and she started well with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Polona Hercog, and went on to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova by the same scoreline. However, it was in the third round where she really came to attention as she dominated the 3rd seed, Garbine Muguruza, for the loss of just two games. In the quarterfinals, she beat Laura Siegemund by the same scoreline in which she beat Muguruza (6-1, 6-1) before battling past 11th seed Petra Kvitova in the semifinals to reach the final match of the tournament.
Many expected Kerber to do well, though she has surprised many with how well she has done. Despite labouring to a tight straight sets victory over Mariana Duque-Marino in the first round, she then eased past Eugenie Bouchard (who she has lost to three times) 6-4, 6-2, before beating 13th seed Sam Stosur 6-0, 7-5 in the third round. In the quarterfinal, she demolished 10th seed Johanna Konta for the loss of just three games and then impressed as she saw off 7th seed Madison Keys 6-3, 7-5 to make other big final this year.
Analysis
Arguably Kerber comes into the final as the favorite, the Puig does have the weapons, and the confidence, to hurt the German.
The unseeded Puerto Rican has striking her groundstrokes superbly the past week and she is probably more powerful than Kerber, which means she should certainly not be afraid to try and dictate play. She must, however, find a way to break down the second seed’s defence, which has been strong this week, and also must not let the occasion get to her; this is not only a huge match for her but also for her nation, and considering she has little experience at this level she could struggle with the occasion.
In contrast, it seems unlikely Kerber will struggle with occasion considering her Australian Open win in January and an encouraging Wimbledon final showing just a month ago. Despite this, the German’s game could be vulnerable to Puig’s aggressive game, so she must defend well to stay in the points, though must not also give the Puerto Rican too many opportunities to attack her relatively weak second serve. Furthermore, Kerber herself must try to attack as much as possible, but should be wary of forcing play too much against a confident opponent.
Head-to-Head
It is Kerber who leads their head to head, winning both their previous meetings, though both wins were very different.
Their first meeting, way back in 2013, was in Brisbane and the German had to battle to an extremely tight 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 victory against a relatively unknown Puig, who would go on to embark on her breakthrough season.
Kerber’s second and most recent win was much more straightforward. In Toronto last year, the German was just too strong for the Puerto Rican as she eased to a 6-2, 6-3 win. The second seed will take confidence from her previous wins, though Puig has certainly been playing much better this season than she was the last time they played.
Assessment
This has all the makings of a high-quality final, with two confident opponents of contrasting styles facing off, and hopefully, the crowd will help create a great atmosphere.
Based on their results so far in Rio, it would arguably not be a surprise for either of the two to win. However whilst Puig has a good chance of making history, Kerber has been looking extremely solid so far and with several big matches behind her, she should edge this and add another milestone to her 2016 season.
Prediction: Angelique Kerber in three sets