Laura Pigossi

Pigossi is an Olympic bronze medallist from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the doubles event. She partnered with Luisa Stefani to defeat Veronika Kudermetova and defending gold medallist Elena Vesnina to win the bronze medal. Pigossi and Stefani became the first Brazilians to obtain an Olympic medal in tennis in history, surpassing Fernando Meligeni's campaign that took 4th place in 1996.

The medal was one of the most unexpected: the Brazilians got an Olympic spot at the last minute, confirmed one week before the Games opened, with Stefani ranked No. 23 in the doubles ranking and Pigossi only at No. 190. Although the Brazilian pair had lost in the only game they played together before, during the overall campaign they managed to save eight match points. In addition to the four in the bronze-medal match, they saved another four in the match against Czech duo Karolína Plíšková/Markéta Vondroušová in the round of 16.

In 2022, she played her first qualifying competition at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open. ^[]

After some decent campaigns on the ITF Circuit, Pigossi had her first WTA Tour-level wins at Copa Colsanitas in Bogotá, Colombia, coming from the qualifyings and reaching the finals. The campaign in Bogotá included wins against Dayana Yastremska in the quarterfinals and top seed Camila Osorio in the semifinals before losing the final to Tatjana Maria. Consequently, Pigossi reached a new career-high of world No. 126 in the singles rankings on 11 April 2022. ^[]

In May, she reached two second rounds at WTA 125-level in Saint-Malo and Karlsruhe.^[] At the French Open, Pigossi made the qualifying draw as the 16th seed. ^[]

In June, she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon. At the Guadalajara Open, she made her main-draw debut at the WTA 1000-level as a lucky loser.^[]

She also made her debut at the Australian Open as a lucky loser. In August, Pigossi won her biggest title to date, a $60k held in the Brazilian city of Feira de Santana. During the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Pigossi won both the women's singles and doubles, the first Brazilian to ever do so – as well as the third to medal in both events after Maria Bueno and Gisele Miró – and earning her a spot in the 2024 Olympics singles tournament.

Pigossi would also earn her first singles WTA 125 title by winning the 2023 WTA Argentina Open in Buenos Aires.

Laura started the 2024 season competing at the Canberra Tennis International. In singles, Pigossi was defeated in her opening match by French player Fiona Ferro in straight sets. In doubles, Pigossi partnered with 18-year-old Filipino Alexandra Eala, advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, the Filipino-Brazilian pair was defeated by the Australian team of Kaylah McPhee and Astra Sharma in straight sets.

Laura reached her second WTA 125 doubles final in San Luis Potosí with Polish partner Katarzyna Piter, but they withdrew on the day of the final due to Pigossi’s knee injury. Shortly after, at her debut in Bogotá, Laura won her opening match against fifth seed, Argentinian Nadia Podoroska, who was coming off a title at San Luis Potosí, before losing her next match to Romanian Irina Bara. She claimed her ninth ITF title at the W50 event in Pretoria, South Africa, defeating Belgian player Hanne Vandewinkel in the final.

During the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier against Germany in São Paulo in April 2024, Pigossi lost a three-set battle to Tatjana Maria, and withdrew from the following day’s match against Laura Siegemund due to pain, with Carolina Meligeni Alves stepping in as her replacement.

In May 2024, she made her debut at the French Open, after qualifying for the main draw.^[] At the Olympics, she was defeated in her opening match by Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska. Competing at the inaugural W75 São Paulo event, she won the title in front of her home crowd, defeating Italian player Beatrice Ricci in the final.

At the Billie Jean King Cup tie between Brazil and Argentina which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera on 15 and 16 of November, Pigossi was selected to open the series for Brazil, facing Argentina's Solana Sierra. Pigossi aimed to secure an early advantage for Brazil in the playoff tie that would determine the qualifiers for the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers in 2025, but she was unable to secure a victory against Sierra, falling in three sets. This result allowed Argentina to start the series with a lead, putting pressure on the subsequent matches to determine the final outcome. Acknowledging the challenge of not being able to convert the support from the home crowd into a win, Pigossi mentioned that despite the encouragement, she struggled to adjust her game plan and felt the pressure of performing on home soil. On the second day of the competition, Pigossi took to the court with the opportunity to give Brazil a bigger lead, as the score was 2-1, as Beatriz Haddad Maia had won her match against Jazmín Ortenzi on the previous day and her second match against Sierra on that same day. However, she faced a tough challenge against Jazmín Ortenzi. Despite her efforts, Pigossi was defeated in a two set match, resulting in Argentina tying the series at 2-2 and forcing the tie to be decided in the doubles match. After the singles matches concluded, Brazil and Argentina had a decisive doubles match. Beatriz Haddad Maia, together with her partner Carolina Alves, aimed to secure the crucial point for Brazil. The Brazilian team was able to overcome the Argentine duo, leading to winning the series and progressing to the next stage of the Billie Jean King Cup with 3-2 as the final score.

Partnering Maja Chwalińska, Pigossi won the doubles title at WTA 125 MundoTenis Open in December 2024, defeating Nicole Fossa Huergo and Valeriya Strakhova in the final. This was her last tournament in the 2024 season and also the first time she won a WTA 125 doubles title, her biggest achievement in doubles to date.

In December 2024, Laura Pigossi began the 2025 season by participating in the qualifying rounds of the ASB Classic, a WTA 250 tournament held in Auckland, New Zealand. Seeded seventh in the qualifying draw, Pigossi aimed to secure a spot in the main event of the competition, which marked her first appearance of the new season. Despite her preparation and ranking advantage, Pigossi was defeated in the opening round of the qualifying tournament. She faced Sachia Vickery, a player from the United States, and lost in straight sets. This marked an early exit for Pigossi, who had hoped to start the season with a deeper run in the tournament. The loss in Auckland's qualifying rounds signified a challenging start to the season, prompting her to regroup and focus on upcoming tournaments.

Pigossi entered the doubles draw of the 2025 ASB Classic with Julia Grabher from Austria as an alternate pair, after the withdrawal of Sofia Kenin from the United States and her partner Elise Mertens from Belgium, who would have been the top seeds. In the opening match, Pigossi and Grabher were defeated by the Canadian Rebecca Marino and the British Tara Moore in straight sets. Pigossi's next tournament was the Australian Open, where she played the singles qualifying stage for a spot in the main draw. In her first match she faced the Spanish player Guiomar Maristany.

In the second round of the qualifying draw, Pigossi faced Viktorija Golubic, a former top 40 player from Switzerland. Despite her efforts, Pigossi was unable to overcome the strong performance of her opponent, losing in straight sets. With this result, she was eliminated from the qualifying tournament, falling short of a spot in the main draw of the Australian Open.

In April, Pigossi participated in the 2025 Copa Colsanitas in Bogota, Colombia. At the singles draw she had a comeback victory against N.5 seed Laura Siegemund at the first round, in a score of 4/6 6/1 6/1, but lost on the second round to qualifier Katarzyna Kawa in a score of 6/1 7/6 6/3, having been with a match point on the second set.

At the doubles draw, Pigossi played alongside Romanian Irina Bara and together they were the runner ups, losing to the Spanish team of Sara Sorribes Tormo and Cristina Bucșa by 7/5, 2/6 , 5-10. This was the first doubles final of Pigossi's career at the WTA 250 level and her biggest to date.