Sofia Araújo (born 30 November 1994) is a Portuguese former professional tennis player and currently a professional padel player.
Since turning professional in padel at age 26, Sofia Araújo has steadily progressed, having played alongside three former world number ones. First she played with María José Sánchez Alayeto, then Alejandra Salazar, and currently Marta Ortega (in her third stint with her).
With nine tournament victories and 19 finals appearances (across both secondary and main circuits) to her name, Sofia currently holds the number 8 spot in the FIP rankings used by Premier Padel.
Carrer First steps in sports competition Sofia Araújo began her career as a professional tennis player. On 18 October 2010, Araújo reached her best singles ranking of world number 926. On 27 May 2013, she peaked at world number 904 in the doubles rankings.
In April 2013, Araújo made her WTA tour debut at the 2013 Portugal Open playing alongside Joana Valle Costa in doubles, but lost to Nina Bratchikova and Varvara Lepchenko in the first round. However, shortly after her debut, she stepped away from the sport to study physiotherapy at university.
She eventually returned to sports after signing up for a padel tournament, where she teamed up with her mother. At 29, the Lisbon native left behind her hometown, family, friends, and physiotherapy career to pursue padel professionally. She moved to Madrid, thereby ending her two-year association with Benfica.
Breakthrough season Her breakthrough season in women's padel came in 2020. In addition to winning four tournaments on the Cupra FIP Tour (the secondary circuit), she was named "Breakout Player" of the season by the World Padel Tour (the premier circuit at the time). The Portuguese player enjoyed the best season of her career on the world's top padel circuit, finishing the year by competing in the Master Final, a tournament reserved for the year's top 16 male and female players on the WPT.
Sofia, who played the entire season alongside Virginia Riera, reached the semifinals of the Madrid Open and three quarterfinals (Estrella Damm Open, Sardinia Open, and Menorca Open) in 2020. These results that left Araújo and Riera with 1,315 points at the conclusion of the nine tournaments held that year.
Breakthrough into the Padel elite After regularly reaching the semifinals, the first final came in 2022 alongside former world number 1 Majo Sánchez at the Danish Open, against Beatriz Gonzaléz & Marta Ortega.
This performance would be improved in the following season, now playing with former world number 1 Alejandra Salazar. On the World Padel Tour circuit, the pair reached two Open 1000 finals (in Sweden and Finland), while in Premier Padel, they reached the final of the Milan P1.
More finals and first trophy 2024 2024 would prove to be her best season to date. After a start to the season featuring two modest tournament performances, Sofia, partnering with Virginia Riera, reached the final of the Acapulco P1, where they were defeated in straight sets.
In the eight subsequent tournaments, the pair consistently reached the quarterfinals but managed to advance beyond that stage only twice. However, at the Genoa P2, now playing alongside Marta Ortega, the Spanish-Portuguese duo not only reached the finals but also defeated the world number ones, Ariana Sánchez & Paula Josemaría, to claim the first major title of her career.
After a modest performance in the subsequent tournament, they reached the final again at the Finland P2, this time losing the rematch against Ariana & Paula. With three more semifinals and a quarterfinal appearances in the next four tournaments, Marta and Sofia reached another final at the Egypt P2, defeating Alejandra Salazar & Jessica Castelló to claim their second title as a pair.
The pair would reach another final in 2024, making it to the final of the Mexico Major, one of the season's four most important tournaments, but failed to defeat Claudia Fernández & Gemma Triay.
2025 Despite a decent start to the season featuring four consecutive semifinals, results deteriorated over the next three tournaments, with only one quarterfinal appearance. This slump led Marta and Sofia to part ways, with the Portuguese player teaming up with promising youngster Andrea Ustero.
After mixed results in their first four tournaments, Araújo and Ustero reached the final of the Bordeaux P2, where they defeated Beatriz Caldera and Carmen Goenaga to claim their first title together.
In the ten tournaments leading up to the end of the regular season, Araújo and Ustero reached another seven semifinals, however, despite their consistency in reaching the later stages, they failed to reach a final to play for a title. Their final tournament as a team was the Premier Finals, where they played for third place against Ariana Sánchez and Paula Josemaría, who were also set to part ways.
Honours
World Padel Tour (2013–2023) Finals N.º Date Tournament Partner Result Opponents in the final Career title No.1.22/05/2022 Danish Open Majo Sánchez2–6 / 1–6 Beatriz Gonzaléz Marta Ortega2.03/09/2023 Finland Open 1000 Alejandra Salazar1–6 / 4–6 Beatriz Gonzaléz Delfina Brea3.03/09/2023 Malmö Open 1000 Alejandra Salazar4–6 / 3–6 Beatriz Gonzaléz Delfina Brea
Premier Padel (2022–Present) Finals N.º Date Tournament Partner Result Opponents in the final Career title No.4.10/12/2023 Milan P1 Alejandra Salazar0–6 / 6–7 Beatriz Gonzaléz Delfina Brea5.24/03/2024 Acapulco P1 Virginea Riera3–6 / 4–6 Claudia Jensen Jessica Castelló6.07/07/2024 Genoa P2 Marta Ortega6–3 / 7–6 Ariana Sánchez Paula Josemaría1st7.04/08/2024 Finland P2 Marta Ortega3–6 / 1–6 Ariana Sánchez Paula Josemaría8.26/10/2024 Giza P2 Marta Ortega6–4 / 6–2 Alejandra Salazar Jessica Castelló2nd9.01/12/2024 Mexico Major Marta Ortega7–6 / 1–6 / 4–6 Claudia Fernández Gemma Triay10.16/03/2025 Cancún P2 Marta Ortega3–6 / 1–6 Delfina Brea Gemma Triay11.06/07/2025 Bordeaux P2 Andrea Ustero7–5 / 2–6 / 6–2 Beatriz Caldera Carmen Goenaga3rd12.14/06/2026 Valencia P1 Claudia Fernández4–6 / 6–3 / 2–6 Ariana Sánchez Andrea Ustero
Secondary circuits and titles
Cupra FIP Tour Finals N.º Date Tournament Partner Result Opponents in the final Career title No.13.26/01/2020 FIP Star Burriana Virginea Riera4th14.01/11/2020 FIP Star Elche Virginea Riera15.08/11/2020 FIP Star Gran Canaria Virginea Riera5th16.20/12/2020 Cupra FIP Finals 2020 Virginea Riera7–5 / 6–2 Anna Cortiles Jessica Castelló6th17.11/09/2022 FIP Promotion Master Vpc Marta Talavan6–0 / 6–2 Nuria Rodriguez Teresa Navarro7th
World Padel Tour (2013–2023) Finals N.º Date Tournament Partner Result Opponents in the final Career title No.18.03/10/2021 Albacete Challenger Ana Catarina Nogueira3–6 / 7–6 / 6–3 Beatriz Caldera Carmen Goenaga8th19.07/05/2023 Alicante Open 500 Marta Ortega7–6 / 7–6 Tamara Icardo Virginea Riera9th
References
External links