Catching Up With Stacey Fung
December 07, 2023 | Women's Tennis
A 2019 UW graduate, Stacey Fung closed out her senior season at Washington as a member of the All-Pac-12 Second Team, conference All-Academic Honorable Mention, and earned a final ITA singles ranking of 55 and doubles ranking of 35.
Fung reached the NCAA singles championship in three straight seasons, becoming just the third Husky to qualify in three consecutive years.
We recently caught up with Fung, who is now traveling the world while living her dream of playing professional tennis.
What were some of your major highlights of 2023?
I won three tournaments this year, so that was really exciting — it helps your ranking shoot up when you're able to make deep runs in tournaments.
These tournaments have been all over the world. The first one was in Santo Domingo — in the Dominican Republic — the second was in Tbilisi, Georgia, and then in Wichita, Kansas, so tennis has taken me all over.
This might be hit or miss as a milestone, but I ended up being three out of the US Open. Based on rankings I was the third alternate. It was a great and also very devastating week, in the sense of missing out on such a big, historic event, but I ended up spending the week in New York training with a lot of the top players on tour.
Being in that environment made me realize these are the type of tournaments I want to be competing in. You really can't complain about being in the gym, training beside top 10 players. I remember being that much more motivated coming back home to Vancouver. Just putting my head down and getting back to work. I saw what I needed to improve on and knew that all of the little details I put in would add up.
Later that month, I played in my first WTA 1000 in Guadalajara, Mexico — a WTA 1000 is the level below Grand Slams. I ended up losing in the first round, in a tough three set match against a top 30 player in the world. So I had a lot of really great takeaways from that week.
Those were some of the biggest things on the tennis side for me this year, but I've also had to shift my mindset in the sense of — this is a job but also a business.
I'm starting to sign some corporate contracts so it's getting quite exciting off court as well. The main focus is tennis, improving my ranking, and staying healthy, but there are a lot of fun things that come along with it.
Unfortunately, I didn't end up competing in the Pan American games, but I was selected to represent Canada which is an honor. I was struggling with a hip issue that I had to deal with at home, so I was not able to travel for the event.
On the plus side, later on that week I was selected to play in the United Cup, which is held in Sydney, Australia. It's a relatively new event — a mixed men's and women's event — that will happen later on this year and then the following week will be the Australian Open qualifying.
That's been the big shift this year — stepping from ITF events to the WTA tour.
Catching Up With 2019 Alum Stacey Fung??
— Washington Women's Tennis (@UW_WTennis) December 7, 2023
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Q: How do you keep tennis fun now that's it's your job?
I've tried to have on-court and off-court goals I think it's very important to maintain a balance of tennis and external hobbies. I've learned when I need to stay focused, and bring a certain level of intensity and when I need to relax and go have some fun.
I am on the road for many weeks of the year and for me, being able to travel is a major plus. I always try to see the culture whether that's the local food, parks, or attractions when I can in these new countries.
For example, while I was over in Georgia, I realized I really love their food. When I played a tournament in Egypt earlier this year, I knew I had to go ATVing and go ride a camel. You get to experience some things that you don't necessarily think you would ever get to — I don't think I would have been in Egypt if I wasn't playing.
When I'm home, I like to do things I can't do while I'm on the road. For the majority of the time I'm staying in hotels so when I come home I like to cook, bake or go to shows and concerts — I'm so eager to do things that I can't while I'm traveling.
Q: How much are you reaching out to brands and how much of this process is brands reaching out to you for deals?
It's a mix of both but I would say I do most of the time. I was lucky to meet someone in Vancouver who has a sports agency that focuses on race car drivers. He compared F1 to tennis in the sense that at the top it's very lucrative, yet it's difficult to make it in F1. So he fully understands what I am going through as a tennis player trying to break through that top 100-200 level. He has a great network in Vancouver so he's made a lot of introductions.
There's also a sponsor — National Bank — that's been making their name in the tennis world in Canada. We've been talking about getting into a sponsorship deal that would include events, playing a part in the community, sports and business side of things in Vancouver. Personally, I try my best to be involved and hands-on with the people and companies that support me. It brings a sense of purpose and meaning, rather than just putting my name on something and calling it a deal.
I'm learning a lot on the business side of things, too. I'm learning a lot through an advisor about budgeting and investing. I am not a product of the Foster School of BusinessS, so some of these concepts don't come naturally to me. So I've been trying to digest as much information as I can.
With these different sponsors — it's nice to know these people support me and my vision with my tennis career. They truly make an impact in the foundation of my career.
Q: What was your career like at UW? What did you learn from it?
Taking this route of an individual sport and making it a team sport was something I was excited to be a part of. Growing up, I had never experienced anything like that before, other than playing team sports like soccer and softball. Being surrounded by other girls my age and figuring out our late teen/early twenties was something special. I was also very lucky to have worked with Robin, Georgia and Denise while at UW. I received nothing but love and support from them.
I remember when I was a freshman at UW, Robin talked about her long-term vision and that she hoped we could buy in and trust her. She emphasized how great things don't happen overnight, but if you work hard towards them you'll see things piece together.
By my senior year, we ended as a top 10 program in the rankings. We put our heart and soul into the sport and each other and you could see the progress every year for us. You could see and feel everyone coming together towards one goal. It's amazing what you can achieve when you surround yourself with good people.
Q: How is tennis different in Canada vs. the US?
Collegiate sports in Canada looks so much different than it does in the US. If you stay in Canada, you have club teams at your school but it's nothing in comparison to the US. It's a very unique setting to be surrounded by top athletes from all different sports and backgrounds. I am very lucky that I got to experience it!in
Q: What is the best part of being a professional tennis player?
Traveling. It really is cool that I get to say that's a part of my job — I've gotten to see a lot of nice places over the years. For example, the tournament in Guadalajara earlier this year — they have a huge tennis community down there. It was a really well-attended event. It was incredible to play in front of a crowd, especially because when I first started my pro tennis career, it was in the height of COVID so there were no fans allowed. It would just be me, my opponent and their coach if they were traveling with one. It was honestly quite depressing because you were putting all your effort into the match and then would look to the side and no one was there. So now, playing in bigger tournaments, I can really appreciate having a crowd.
Some of my favorite places that I have visited were from last year. I went to Helsinki, Finland and Luxembourg, Luxembourg. Again, these were places that may have not necessarily been my first choices to go on vacation, but I was there during the holidays when they have Christmas markets going on. I was able to explore both cities, found some nice restaurants and cute cafes.
Q: What are your goals for 2024?
Something that I learned from Robin while I was at UW was to have goals that you can check in on daily, weekly, monthly etc. It helps break down your long term goals, making it feel more manageable, and you can also make sure that you are headed in the right direction. Again, it's really all in the vision.
Having short-term goals has also helped me keep track of how I'm feeling on a day-to-day basis, so I can adjust my training if needed. Long-term for me is making sure I'm prepared for any opportunities that arise. And yes in reality, a numeric ranking as well. My goal for next year is to be in the top 100, so I will be competing in all of the Slams. But it really is taking care all of the details.
With all of the tennis and travel, it takes a lot mentally and physically. This year I struggled with a few injuries, so right now I'm reflecting on how I can prevent or minimize injuries moving forward. This means making sure I have a really good pre-hab program and routine. The mental side of the game is, dare I say, even more important. This is something that needs to be constantly worked on, like any other muscle. I'm doing my best this preseason to spend more time on the mental side of things.
Q: What is some advice you'd give to current UW tennis players?
Being a student-athlete, you're ironically being put in a position to fail over and over again. But that's because you're trying to push beyond your comfort zone. If you're able to find the beauty in failure, that is where the magic happens. You will quickly learn that you can accomplish a lot more than you think you can.
Not only in tennis, but so many variables in life. For me, I didn't find the comfort in being uncomfortable, until later on in college. It helped me grow a lot as a person and helped my confidence.
Q: What do you do for fun when you're not playing tennis?
A lot of times when I do have down time, it's almost like I don't want to do anything, I just want to relax because I'm exhausted. But a newer hobby I've taken up is pilates. I've started pilates with a friend and it's nice because it's not performance-based. When I work out with my trainer, everything we do is to improve some aspect of my game, so being able to be active and not have it revolve around my performance is nice.
I'm really into cooking and baking. I don't get to do it at all when I'm on the road so it's fun to be in the kitchen and cook with my dad, who is a self proclaimed Master Chef.
I've also been on a Duolingo grind. In elementary school, I did 3 years of a French Immersion where you study everything in French. So I've been trying to expand my vocab a bit — I think I'm at day 330 so far.
Just like Seattle, Vancouver is a beautiful city, so there are a lot of hikes and trails. If I have the chance, I try to go to a concert or show, really anything that I don't get to do while I'm on the road. But it's always nice to be able to sleep in my own bed and spend time with my friends and family!
