Sofia Prazeres (born 19 June 1974) is a former professional tennis player from Portugal.

Sofia Prazeres
Country (sports) Portugal
Born (1974-06-19) 19 June 1974 (age 49)
Porto, Portugal
Prize money$85,935
Singles
Career titles1 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 152 (9 June 1997)
Doubles
Career titles6 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 171 (5 May 1997)

Biography edit

Born in Porto, Prazeres started playing tennis at the age of seven.

Prazeres debuted on the WTA Tour as a 16 year old at the 1990 Estoril Open, featuring in both the singles and doubles draws. In 1991, she began representing Portugal in Fed Cup competition and went on to become the most capped player in the team's history, with 30 wins from 49 matches.[1] She made main draw appearances in singles at the 1995 Moscow Ladies Open and the 1997 Styrian Open. After making it to the final round of qualifying at the 1997 French Open, she reached her highest singles ranking of 152 in the world. This was the highest rank attained by a female player from Portugal until surpassed by Frederica Piedade.[2]

She retired in 1998, soon after winning Portugal's national championship for the ninth successive year.[3]

ITF finals edit

$25,000 tournaments
$10,000 tournaments

Singles: 9 (1–8) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent Score
Loss 1. 17 June 1991 Covilhã, Portugal Clay   Galia Angelova 6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Loss 2. 8 February 1993 Faro, Portugal Hard   Gala León García 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. 21 February 1994 Valencia, Spain Clay   Ángeles Montolio 3–6, 0–6
Loss 4. 12 September 1994 Sofia, Bulgaria Clay   Kateřina Kroupová-Šišková 3–6, 3–6
Loss 5. 3 July 1995 Sezze, Italy Clay   Marzia Grossi 3–6, 2–6
Loss 6. 1 July 1996 Stuttgart, Germany Clay   Sandra Klösel 6–2, 6–7, 3–6
Loss 7. 7 April 1997 Athens, Greece Hard (i)   María Sánchez Lorenzo 7–6(7), 1–6, 6–7(4)
Win 8. 21 April 1997 Guimarães, Portugal Hard   Keirsten Alley 6–3, 6–1
Loss 9. 9 February 1998 Faro, Portugal Hard   Paula Hermida 4–6, 4–6

Doubles: 11 (6–5) edit

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1. 17 June 1991 Aveiro, Portugal Hard   Christina Zachariadou   Kristine Jonkosky
  Siobhán Nicholson
0–6, 6–2, 2–6
Loss 2. 24 February 1992 Vilamoura, Portugal Hard   Tânia Couto   Svetlana Krivencheva
  Elena Likhovtseva
3–6, 2–6
Win 3. 12 July 1993 Vigo, Spain Clay   María Fernanda Landa   Petra Kamstra
  Linda Niemantsverdriet
7–6(6), 3–6, 7–6(5)
Win 4. 19 July 1993 Bilbao, Spain Clay   María Fernanda Landa   Silvia Ramón-Cortés
  Inmaculada Varas
6–4, 6–4
Win 5. 6 June 1994 Elvas, Portugal Hard   Ann Devries   Désirée Leupold
  Janet Souto
6–2, 4–6, 7–5
Loss 6. 16 June 1996 Salzburg, Austria Clay   Emmanuelle Gagliardi   Alicia Ortuño
  Veronica Stele
0–6, 4–6
Win 7. 8 September 1996 Spoleto, Italy Clay   Miriam D'Agostini   Alicia Ortuño
  Joelle Schad
6–4, 6–4
Win 8. 13 January 1997 Pontevedra, Spain Hard (i)   Alicia Ortuño   Tathiana Garbin
  Sara Ventura
4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 9. 20 January 1997 Orense, Spain Hard (i)   Alicia Ortuño   Linda Sentis
  Susanne Trik
6–2, 6–3
Loss 10. 16 February 1997 Cali, Colombia Clay   Larissa Schaerer   Rachel McQuillan
  Syna Schmidle
2–6, 3–6
Loss 11. 9 February 1998 Faro, Portugal Hard   Abigail Tordoff   Nikola Hübnerová
  Alena Paulenková
2–6, 2–6

References edit

  1. ^ "Aos 23 anos, Michelle repete feito que só Sofia Prazeres havia alcançado" (in Portuguese). Bola Amarela. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Portuguese tennis player makes history". The Portugal News. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Saída de Sofia Prazeres representa travessia no deserto". Record (in Portuguese). 19 July 2000. Retrieved 9 January 2018.

External links edit