Sofia Prazeres

Sofia Prazeres
Country (sports) Portugal
Born (1974-06-19) 19 June 1974 (age 50)
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)

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 Bulgaria Galia Angelova 6–3, 4–6, 1–6
Loss 2. 8 February 1993 Faro, Portugal Hard Spain Gala León García 3–6, 3–6
Loss 3. 21 February 1994 Valencia, Spain Clay Spain Ángeles Montolio 3–6, 0–6
Loss 4. 12 September 1994 Sofia, Bulgaria Clay Czech Republic Kateřina Kroupová-Šišková 3–6, 3–6
Loss 5. 3 July 1995 Sezze, Italy Clay Italy Marzia Grossi 3–6, 2–6
Loss 6. 1 July 1996 Stuttgart, Germany Clay Germany Sandra Klösel 6–2, 6–7, 3–6
Loss 7. 7 April 1997 Athens, Greece Hard (i) Spain María Sánchez Lorenzo 7–6(7), 1–6, 6–7(4)
Win 8. 21 April 1997 Guimarães, Portugal Hard United States Keirsten Alley 6–3, 6–1
Loss 9. 9 February 1998 Faro, Portugal Hard Spain 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 Greece Christina Zachariadou United States Kristine Jonkosky
Republic of Ireland Siobhán Nicholson
0–6, 6–2, 2–6
Loss 2. 24 February 1992 Vilamoura, Portugal Hard Portugal Tânia Couto Bulgaria Svetlana Krivencheva
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
3–6, 2–6
Win 3. 12 July 1993 Vigo, Spain Clay Argentina María Fernanda Landa Netherlands Petra Kamstra
Netherlands Linda Niemantsverdriet
7–6(6), 3–6, 7–6(5)
Win 4. 19 July 1993 Bilbao, Spain Clay Argentina María Fernanda Landa Spain Silvia Ramón-Cortés
Spain Inmaculada Varas
6–4, 6–4
Win 5. 6 June 1994 Elvas, Portugal Hard Belgium Ann Devries Austria Désirée Leupold
Spain Janet Souto
6–2, 4–6, 7–5
Loss 6. 16 June 1996 Salzburg, Austria Clay Switzerland Emmanuelle Gagliardi Spain Alicia Ortuño
Argentina Veronica Stele
0–6, 4–6
Win 7. 8 September 1996 Spoleto, Italy Clay Brazil Miriam D'Agostini Spain Alicia Ortuño
Dominican Republic Joelle Schad
6–4, 6–4
Win 8. 13 January 1997 Pontevedra, Spain Hard (i) Spain Alicia Ortuño Italy Tathiana Garbin
Italy Sara Ventura
4–6, 6–1, 6–4
Win 9. 20 January 1997 Orense, Spain Hard (i) Spain Alicia Ortuño Netherlands Linda Sentis
Netherlands Susanne Trik
6–2, 6–3
Loss 10. 16 February 1997 Cali, Colombia Clay Paraguay Larissa Schaerer Australia Rachel McQuillan
Germany Syna Schmidle
2–6, 3–6
Loss 11. 9 February 1998 Faro, Portugal Hard United Kingdom Abigail Tordoff Czech Republic Nikola Hübnerová
Slovakia Alena Paulenková
2–6, 2–6

References

  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.