Summer Olympics

2016 Olympic champ Monica Puig recovering from elbow surgery

Published Dec. 27, 2019 5:14 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) — Rio Olympics gold medalist Monica Puig had stitches removed Friday after surgery for a nerve problem in her right elbow that will sideline her for the start of the tennis season.

The 26-year-old Puig wrote on Twitter: "Every day that passes is another day closer to my comeback."

The right-hander had the operation in New York earlier this month and announced that she would be missing the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 20 in Melbourne.

At the 2016 Summer Games, Puig earned Puerto Rico's first Olympic gold medal in any sport. She also became the first woman representing Puerto Rico to win any medal.

Puig was the first unseeded woman to win the singles title since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988.

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