MOGI DAS CRUZES/STARNBERG, November 19, 2025
Fourteen-year-old Nathalia Tourinho from Sao Paulo has joined the growing list of Brazilian rising stars who earned their first professional victory over the past two weeks. On Tuesday, in her debut at the Sao Paulo Tennis Classic in Mogi das Cruzes, she defeated Larissa Silenci 7–6(3), 6–1. Nathalia now awaits her round-of-16 opponent, who will come from the match between Jamaican qualifier Najah Dowson and Argentina’s Daniele Gonzalez.
Nathalia arrives boosted by strong recent results on the ITF junior circuit. Last weekend, she swept both singles and doubles titles at the J100 Salvador, and she currently sits at No. 190 in the ITF world junior rankings (18 & under).
“I’m very happy, feeling great and very confident. It was a good match against Larissa, who is my friend and a very good player. I knew it would be tough, but I managed to win. I’m coming from a very good stretch, winning my second ITF in Bahia, a J100, so I think I’m in my best form right now. Let’s keep pushing,” Nathalia said.
Like Duda Carbone and Clara Coura in Criciúma, Nathalia received a wildcard to compete in the ITF World Tennis Tour W15 tournament at Kosmos Clube, a US$15,000 event that awards 15 WTA Ranking points to the champion. The young Brazilian made the most of the opportunity to take an early step toward professional tennis.
Her first WTA point was earned this week, but she still needs to score in two more events within one year—or collect 10 points this week in Mogi das Cruzes – to officially enter the WTA rankings.
Another junior in the tournament is 16-year-old Ana Cruz, who advanced through qualifying in Mogi das Cruzes. She earned her first professional win in December 2024 at the ITF in Joinville, and she has until the end of this year to secure two more points; otherwise, she will lose the one she currently holds. Today, however, she faced a difficult main-draw debut: seeded No. 4 Luiza Fullana proved too strong, winning 6–0, 6–4.
“I think this new generation is coming in very aggressive—they step into the court, hit hard, and that reflects the direction of women’s tennis today. In Brazil, Bia (Haddad) has always played aggressively since she was young, and she made it. The world’s top 20 are also all aggressive players, so there’s no reason to delay the transition. Coaches are working on that from an early age,” Fullana explained.
