Yolanda Hopkins kicked off Sunday with a bang, surfing straight into the semifinals of the EDP Ericeira Pro. This event marks the fourth stop out of seven on the 2025 Challenger Series circuit. Her big win early in the day at Ribeira d’Ilhas puts the 27-year-old surfer from Algarve incredibly close to securing her spot on next year’s women’s world circuit.
Hopkins faced American Alyssa Spencer, a former top-ranked surfer, in the third heat of the women’s quarterfinals. This was the day’s first big showdown. Yolanda didn’t waste any time, hitting a powerful 7.33-point wave right away. She never let Spencer get a foothold in the heat. Hopkins dominated with a total of 13.83 points, leaving Spencer well behind at 9.50 points.
This victory is a career best for Yolanda in Ericeira. She improved on her 5th place finish from last year. More importantly, she piled up crucial points in the race for the seven qualification spots on the 2026 women’s world circuit. Her next challenge in the semifinals will be against Australian India Robinson, another former top global surfer. That match is set to happen around noon.
Currently, Hopkins sits in second place in the rankings. She made it to the final in Ballito, South Africa, earlier this season. She also placed fifth in Newcastle, Australia, and at Huntington Beach in California. Yolanda now has over 23,000 points. The ranking counts the five best results from the season’s seven events. Right now, only 14-year-old French phenom Tya Zebrowski is ahead of Yolanda. Zebrowski is also competing in the semifinals at Ribeira d’Ilhas.
With only four events finished, Yolanda still has a chance to earn more points in Portugal if she advances past the semifinals. She knows that just entering the next event in Brazil guarantees her an extra 1,700 points. This would push her total past 25,000 points. That number should be enough for her to become the first Portuguese woman ever to qualify for surfing’s elite world tour.
Last year, the qualification cut-off was 23,665 points. However, only five spots were up for grabs then, compared to seven this year. Also, only the best four results from six events counted last season. Portugal has two other surfers fighting for qualification. Kika Veselko, who exited in the Ericeira round of 16, will move from 5th to 4th in the rankings. Teresa Bonvalot, meanwhile, has fallen out of the top seven and is currently in the virtual 8th spot.