Olympic champion Puig withdraws from French Open

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Olympic women's singles tennis champion Monica Puig has announced her withdrawal from the 2018 French Open as she has not recovered from hip injury.

The 24-year-old player, who got the first Olympic gold medal for Puerto Rico at the 2016 Rio Games, retired from her qualifier against Donna Vekic after falling behind 4-1 in the first during the Italian Open last week. Subsequent examinations revealed that she had to rest for the next couple of weeks.

"It pains me to be missing Roland Garros for the first time since 2010," Puig wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

Screenshot from Twitter

"I understand that injuries are part of the game and while they are not fun, they can teach you a lot about yourself and your body," she added.

Puig, currently ranked 62nd, lost her second-round match to the eventual champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia at last year's French Open.

She is expected to return for the start of the grass-court season in Nottingham next month.

This year’s French Open will kick off at Roland Garros this coming Sunday with Rafael Nadal chasing an 11th title.

(With inputs from Xinhua)