Sophomore Emma Fantousis has been adjusting to a new place and team after moving from Cannes, France, to San José, California, to play for the San José State women’s tennis team.
Fantousis was born and raised in Varna, Bulgaria, where she was first introduced to the sport of tennis at 7 years old by some friends at school.
Fantousis began to play club tennis for Tennis Club Izida in Bulgaria at the age of 8.
“I wanted to start playing sports (and) most of my friends were playing sports, so they told me to try, and that’s where I started,” Fantousis said.
She played tennis for fun and continued when she moved to Cannes, France, with her family at 12 years old.
“I played for my club in my city, but it was more for myself,” Fantousis said.
During her time with her club team, Fantousis played in tournaments against other clubs in France.
Fantousis attended high school at Centre National d’Enseignement à Distance, where she made friends who also played tennis and encouraged her to take the sport more seriously.
“I just started playing two or three times per week, and then I started liking it more and more, and then I decided I wanted to start a bit more professionally,” Fantousis said.
During her career in France, she played in tournaments across Europe, Africa and Asia.
In her senior year of high school, Fantousis got recruited by San José State.
Rozalina Youseva, the SJSU women’s assistant tennis coach from 2019 to 2024, is also from Bulgaria and knew Fantousis back home.
Youseva informed SJSU head coach Chad Skorupka about Fantousis and her interest in playing at the collegiate level, which led to the two meeting.
“He was actually one of the first coaches who contacted me, and I liked the place and everything around here,” Fantousis said.
Fantousis’ parents are supportive of her tennis career, encouraging her to attend a university and make her own decisions.
“My mom encouraged me to come here to take my studies, graduate, and then if I still want to be a pro, I can do it after,” Fantousis said. “She wanted me to have my graduation to be sure that I have a major and then after I can work.”
Coming out of high school, Fantousis reached a career-high ranking of No. 379 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association.
Fantousis noticed a lot of cultural differences in San José since moving.
“It was weird because it was just different from back home, everything, like food-wise, location-wise, everything,” Fantousis said.
Fantousis said her favorite part of playing on the team and living in California is visiting new places.
“ … Almost every week we’re going to a new place,” Fantousis said.
A major achievement so far in her career was winning the gold flight at the Cal Fall Invitational in September 2025.
Fantousis’ goals for the future are to continue improving her tennis skills and graduate from college.
“Just to get better and better with tennis, and school-wise, of course, just keep everything good,” Fantousis said. “Maybe after I graduate, I will play tournaments just to try if I want to do pro, and if it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out, then I just continue my life.”
