Hopkins has climbed to third in the Challenger Series rankings
Portuguese surfer Yolanda Hopkins came agonisingly close to her first win on the Challenger Series circuit, finishing second at the Ballito Pro in South Africa on Sunday – her best-ever result at this level. The 27-year-old from the Algarve was edged out in the final heat by Spain’s Nadia Erostarbe in what was a historic performance for the Portuguese athlete.
Hopkins started the day by impressively dispatching Brazil’s Laura Raupp in the semi-finals with a score of 14.24 to 9.67, avenging fellow Portuguese surfer Francisca Veselko’s earlier defeat. In doing so, she booked her first-ever final appearance on the Challenger Series, the National Surfers Association (ANS) says in a statement to the press.
In the title-deciding heat, Yolanda hit early with the highest-scoring wave of the heat – a powerful 7.67 – and held the lead for much of the contest. However, with wave conditions offering limited scoring opportunities, she was unable to back it up with a strong second ride. Erostarbe capitalised late in the heat to post a total of 12.80, edging out Hopkins, who finished with 10.84.
Hopkins now sits third in the overall rankings with 12,545 points, after a fifth-place finish in the first event in Newcastle. Francisca “Kika” Veselko, who won in Australia, continues to lead the standings on 14,745 points, ahead of Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons (13,885).
Portugal currently has three surfers in qualifying positions for the 2026 Championship Tour: Veselko (1st), Hopkins (3rd), and Teresa Bonvalot, who is tied for 6th with Laura Raupp. Only the top seven at the end of the seven-event season will qualify for next year’s elite tour.
On the men’s side, Frederico Morais (“Kikas”) was the best Portuguese performer in South Africa, finishing 17th. Afonso Antunes was eliminated early, and both remain outside the qualification bubble, with Morais in 36th — nearly 4,000 points shy of the top 10 needed to qualify for the 2026 Championship Tour.
The Challenger Series now heads to Huntington Beach, California, from July 26 to August 3. Then it returns to Portugal for the much-anticipated Ericeira event in the autumn, followed by stops in Brazil, Hawaii, and the season finale in Newcastle, Australia.
