Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas continued her impressive campaigns by topping the podium and lifting silverware at the calendar’s latest Grade A tournament in Pretoria, South Africa.
Costoulas has been in blistering form this season and success in Pretoria represented her fifth junior title of 2022 and her second at Grade A level having also conquered all before her at Offenbach in May.
Her latest triumph propelled the 17-year-old to No. 2 in the junior world rankings as she closes in on top spot, which is currently held by Croatia’s Petra Marcinko, who was named an ITF World Champion in 2021.
While she has contested professional events in the meantime – and indeed reached the final at W25 Gurugram in June, Costoulas’s results at junior level since winning Offenbach have stuttered slightly. Her post-match comments on social media suggested as much.
After winning 29 of the 31 junior matches she played this year, Costoulas suffered a surprise first-round exit at the Roland Garros Junior Championships in June before succumbing in her opening match at JB1 Klosters.
“I believe I can say that I had a good week at the office,” said Costoulas, who also teamed up with Hungary’s Luca Udvardy to claim the girls’ doubles title in Pretoria. “I am very happy with these two titles and very happy to be back on track.”
While victory was sealed with a straight-sets win over Turkey’s Melisa Ercan, on three occasions – against USA’s Martina Marica, Aruzhan Sagandikova of Kazakhstan and Great Britain’s Ella McDonald – Costoulas recovered from a set down. She did so with distinction.
Photo 1 Caption: Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas continued her impressive campaigns by topping the podium and lifting silverware at the calendar’s latest Grade A tournament in Pretoria, South Africa. Photo: Tennis SA
With editing by gsport
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