Sofia Araujo opens up on being padel's Portuguese trailblazer

Sofia Araujo sat down for an extended interview with Premier Padel's Bandeja Plus series this week, opening up about life as the outsider inside women's padel top ten.

From tennis to a new sport

Araujo played professional tennis before switching to padel at 19, a move she says her family helped spark. She worked as a physiotherapist while building her new career before committing to the sport full time and relocating to Madrid to train at the highest level.

The first Portuguese player in the top ten

That decision paid off. Araujo became the first Portuguese player, man or woman, ever to break into padel's world top ten, and she currently sits at number 8 with a career high of number 7. In the interview, she talks about carrying that weight as a role model for young Portuguese players and the responsibility of being the outsider in a sport still dominated by Spain and Argentina.

Life as the Lioness of Lisbon

Known on tour as the Leona de Lisboa, Araujo also discusses the gap between her competitive persona and who she is off the court, plus her ambition to keep climbing toward the number one ranking.