Support Ema Burgic's Tennis Comeback

My name is Ema Burgic and I am doing this fundraiser for my comeback on professional tennis tour.

Tennis has been my life since I was 7 years old. I am a true believer that everything in life happens for a reason and how I started playing is very special. It was because my dad had a cancer and barely survived. 

 In my career, I have won three singles and eleven doubles titles on the professional circuit. On 3 October 2016, I reached my best singles ranking of world No. 466. On 17 October 2016, I reached No. 145 in the WTA doubles rankings.

 I competed in Fed Cup for Bosnia and Herzegovina. I won my first tournament on the ITF Circuit in 2008 as a 16-year-old, at a $10k event in La Vall d'Uixó, Spain. 

 2011-2015 I played for Baylor University . During my time at Baylor, I was a 7-time All American, Big 12 Conference Player of the Year and ranked #4 in the NCAA Division 1 ITA final rankings. 

 After I announced my retirement in February 2017, I have been coaching as well as building my own brand and business. But in all these years I could not fill a void that I had inside of me. I knew that I wanted to compete and to continue playing, finally allowing myself to see what my full potential is as a professional tennis player. I want to give myself one more chance, give it my all, and see what I can truly accomplish in this sport.

 Knowing what it takes to compete at the highest level, the biggest initial challenge for me will be the finances to get started. Since I went through my divorce last year, I have to take care of my two boys on my own without alimony or child support. With that, my current living/monthly expenses are approximately $7k but does not include any tennis expenses. 

 In order for me to play and compete as a professional, working full time is not an option, but I am able to teach private and group lessons around my training schedule. All of my time and energy is taken up by my devotion to training, raising my two kids and taking care of my body through different forms recovery sessions/work for on-court longevity. 

 To get my ranking back, I need to start competing in low level prize money tournaments that require me to pay all travel and housing expenses for me and my coach. At this level of tournaments, you spend more than what you earn (even if you win the tournament). Any help on this journey will mean the world to me and will propel me closer to achieving my goals, and ultimately, my dream. 

 Example of a training week: 6 days of tennis, fitness and treatments, stringing etc add up to anywhere between 2.5k-3k/week 

 Example of a tournament week: Flight, housing, coaching expenses =3k-4k/week.

My Full Story

** June 11 2024 Update:

Thank you everyone so far for donating and your support. 

So far I played five tournaments and I managed to get my ranking back. I’m really proud of myself that I was able to do that in only five tournaments after all these years I am gaining my confidence and I need to be patient with myself and no, it’s going to take time , I am really happy that I’m playing again and very grateful that my body is holding up as well . I am constantly posting on Instagram and YouTube all the updates from tournaments so make sure to follow both of those pages. 

Current WTA ranking #1174

As I am playing more tournaments and traveling more, of course the expenses are higher since I cannot be at home and give lessons. Also these low prize money tournaments you don’t get enough prize money to even cover the expenses.

Any help on this page is highly appreciated.