Monica Puig has had trouble concentrating on tennis after winning a gold medal—Puerto Rico's first-ever gold—at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
The 22-year-old has only won two matches since her victory captured international attention and turned her into a leading figure in her country.
"There's been a lot of media attention, a lot of focus on just the Olympics," she told reporters after losing to Roberta Vinci in the first round of the Wuhan Open. "It's kind of hard when you have to focus on other things, other tournaments, and everybody keeps bringing you back. But at least I accomplished that. It's something that I have to look at as a positive."
Unlike many other athletes, tennis players have little opportunity for a break in their packed tournament schedule. Puig has found the turnaround to be particularly demanding given the impact of her achievement.
"It's a bit tough when you come off the biggest win of your career, the biggest tournament you've ever won, and all of a sudden you have to get back to training," said Puig. "A lot of gymnasts are doing 'Dancing with the Stars', all this and that. I'm in Wuhan, which is not bad."
But it has been an adjustment.
"Like I said, it's not something that I'm used to," she added. "I would have loved to have some downtime, give my body a little bit of a breather to catch up with everything that's happened."
Puig will attempt to rebound using the same attitude that propelled her at the Olympics, where she says she concentrated on enjoying tennis.
"I've been trying to see things with a different perspective," she explained. "I really wanted to enjoy the Olympics.
"I definitely feel a lot better on the court since I started viewing things that way."
Puig is currently No. 27 in the rankings.