Sofia Prazeres (born 19 June 1974) is a former professional tennis player from Portugal.
Biography
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
| $25,000 tournaments |
| $10,000 tournaments |
Singles: 9 (1–8)
| 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)
| 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
- ^ "Aos 23 anos, Michelle repete feito que só Sofia Prazeres havia alcançado" (in Portuguese). Bola Amarela. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ "Portuguese tennis player makes history". The Portugal News. 11 February 2006. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
- ^ "Saída de Sofia Prazeres representa travessia no deserto". Record (in Portuguese). 19 July 2000. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
External links
- Sofia Prazeres at the Women's Tennis Association
- Sofia Prazeres at the International Tennis Federation
- Sofia Prazeres at the Billie Jean King Cup
This page was last edited on 18 February 2024, at 15:51