‘I’m playing because I feel joy’: At 40, Sarah Pang looks to return to professional tennis
Pang, who was only the eighth Singaporean woman to break into the Women’s Tennis Association rankings, shares about her journey and comeback with CNA’s A Letter to Myself podcast.
Sarah Pang in appearance at a closed-door racquet demo clinic with Wilson on July 2025. (Photo: Wilson Singapore)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: At an age where most professional tennis players would be hanging up their racquets, Sarah Pang is getting back into the swing of it.
The 40-year-old, who is one of Singapore’s few professional tennis players, was only the eighth Singaporean woman to break into the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings – a feat she achieved in 2019.
As she aims to return to the pro circuit, she has a bigger goal beyond hitting a certain ranking: Playing freely.
Pang recently took a year off to care for her ill mother.
“When you step back out on court after a monster year like that, the playing comes with a different lens,” she told CNA’s A Letter to Myself podcast last week.
“I think because you've healed so much more of your inner child – for me, it has been the joy of realising I'm not playing to prove anymore. I'm playing because I want to. I'm playing because I feel joy. It's actually fun.”
One question Pang gets asked is why she wants to continue past what is generally considered an athlete’s professional prime.
But she said sports science today allows them to go on well into their 40s. For her, that means a medley of activities like strength and conditioning, osteopathy, pilates, meditation – and even speaking to her therapist.
“We've just not, in Singapore, caught up with that awareness. So, for me, 40 is still young,” she added.
WORKED 3 JOBS FOR OVERSEAS TRAINING STINT
Pang, who was a top badminton junior in her teens, picked professional tennis over golf at 19 when her father told her he felt these two sports gave athletes more autonomy.
Her mother had had a massive stroke when she was 18, and her father had retired as a secondary school teacher by then.
As the fifth of six children, the burden of supporting the family fell on her older siblings’ shoulders. Her father then offered her the choice of going pro.
“I joke all the time – I wish I'd chosen golf because it has a longer lifespan, but no regrets, and it's just been such a tremendous journey,” she said.
“The initial years … were very difficult. I was too ashamed to even tell my badminton teammates from junior college that I transitioned, because it's like: ‘You traitor!’”
After graduating from the National University of Singapore with an English literature degree, she began pursuing tennis full-time in 2014.
She worked three jobs and took out loans to pay for a training stint at Barcelona’s Sanchez-Casal Tennis Academy, where she worked as a dormitory warden.
In her mid-20s at that point, she stuck out among the other students who were mostly aged 12 to 16. She described this chapter of her life as “very unique” and a “rare privilege”.
“I just knew that I was there to play, and I was there to try and become as much of a player as I could be,” she said.
“We fall into this trap of comparison so much in Singapore, because I think that's the way we've been taught to survive, and also the way we've been taught to function and engage our worth.”
“GO AND CHASE YOUR DREAM”
In 2018, Pang reached one of the lowest points in her life – she had only S$1.87 (US$1.44) in her bank account, meaning she had to cut her season short.
Raising funds to travel and compete, which can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, was tough for her, given that it is not in Singapore’s social culture to ask for support, she said.
She recounted her anxiety over showing a fundraising campaign video to a security guard at the building she worked at. He then took out S$10 from his wallet and handed the bill to her.
“He said: ‘Girl, go and chase your dream.’ It’s moments like this that … just made me realise, wow, it’s so deeply humbling,” she added.
“When I step on court, I step on court for the pride of my flag and my colours, and I step on court for everyone who has donated, supported the journey.”
INTERNAL GROWTH
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Pang said she was grateful for how it forced her to grow.
The world ground to a halt – including international tennis tournaments – just a year after she made the WTA rankings.
“While COVID reset all of that work, (it) also forced perspectives of internal growth that, had I stayed on that hamster wheel, I don't think I would have had the chance to uncover,” she said.
She added that she has a message for her future self: That the best and deepest way of service to her community is to have the courage to live authentically.
She recounted one of her first pro tennis tournaments held in Jakarta. At the time, being entirely focused on the competition meant she did not realise there was a large shopping centre just across the road from the tennis courts.
As she made her way there, she almost got run down by a motorcycle.
“As he zooms past me, I take a step back and finally take in the normal life that’s not the tennis ball,” she said.
“And then I realised I’ve just been hothoused in this incredible journey of realising more of myself, growing and experiencing life, mentally, physically, spiritually, through tour, but I have no one to share it with.”
That prompted her to start her brand and social media handle “tenniswithsarah”.
Currently, Pang is focused on training and fundraising, saying she has been happy with her progress after starting a few warm-up tournaments this year.
“I'm looking forward to the real chunk of tour that will start at the end of the first quarter, beginning of the second quarter. My focus until then is dual – to keep preparing my body and to raise enough support to enable me to give this next season of tour my best shot,” she added.
When asked about a particular goal she has her sights on, Pang said she has thought about this question “long and hard”.
In terms of sponsorship, Pang said she is grateful to have sponsors who have told her they are investing in the person, not just her career.
“It’s easy to just say: ‘Oh, I would like to hit so-and-so ranking at this time.’ But to me, that's private, but that's also very boring,” she pointed out.
“The deeper goal that I have for myself on court is to play free and to be able to handle the pressure of sponsors, of expectation – self and otherwise imposed. To meet the season with joy, to play with joy rather than to play with fear or with trepidation.”
