Retired tennis player Monica Puig has voiced her support for fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny ahead of his upcoming Super Bowl halftime show, and admits it’s been difficult to witness the backlash against the NFL’s decision to select him to perform in Sunday’s showpiece. Puig, who made history in Rio 2016 by becoming Puerto Rico’s first-ever Olympic gold medalist, had been working as the stadium presenter and MC at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open tennis tournament in the UAE capital this past week.

With Super Bowl half-time shows becoming increasingly polarised, how will the Puerto Rican superstar quiet his detractors?

On Sunday, in front of tens of millions of television viewers, the Puerto Rican reggaeton phenomenon will headline the Super Bowl halftime show, on the heels of winning Album of…