Carla Suárez Navarro booked a most unusual spot in the final of the Connecticut Open on Friday, defeating Monica Puig after just eight games when the Puerto Rican retired with a serious-looking abdominal injury.
In four matches in New Haven, Suárez Navarro has played fewer than four full sets. She beat No. 8 seed Barbora Strycova in the opening round on Sunday, received a walkover against Johanna Konta and did not return to the court until Thursday night. But Petra Kvitova retired after a set there, and Puig lasted only 33 minutes on Friday.
“It’s not easy. It’s difficult. You want to play matches before the US Open, before a really big tournament,” Suárez Navarro told ESPN. “You want to be in the final of every tournament you play, but not that way.
“Today I didn’t feel really good. But tomorrow I have the opportunity [to win a title].”
Puig, the Olympic champion, had lost her serve badly at 4-2 in the first set, missing several first serves and offering only weak second serves that Suárez Navarro attacked easily. Puig then called for the trainer, with whom she went off court while motioning to her abdomen.
The Puerto Rican, who came through qualifying and was playing her seventh match in eight days, returned to the court with visible tears in her eyes. Though she won the first point of Suárez Navarro’s ensuing service game, she barely moved by the end of the game.
That had followed a strong game from Puig, in which she ripped a pair of groundstroke returns from 30-30 to go ahead by a break. There had been warning signs, however, as Puig put just 32 percent of first serves in play in her four service games.
After that final game, Puig walked to the net sobbing, confirming her departure and sending Suárez Navarro to the 10th final of her career and first since early 2016, when she beat Jelena Ostapenko in Doha. She will meet Aryna Sabalenka, looking for her first career title in four finals, on Saturday.
