From champion to Trojan, Maddy Sieg is doing it all

Winner. Teammate. Friend. Champion. Legacy. USC freshman tennis player Maddy Sieg is all of the above, yet so much more.

Sitting in the team room at Marks Tennis Stadium, skin tanned from the sun and nails painted a bright cardinal, one would think that Sieg had spent her entire life playing tennis in Southern California. She didn’t, for the record. 

However, tracing her path from Greenwich, Connecticut to Los Angeles, it is clear that there was never a question of if Sieg would be a great Trojan. It was always a matter of when.

At 19 years old, Sieg has already established herself as a winner on the professional tennis circuit. As a junior singles player, she has been ranked as high as No. 13 in the world, with an overall record of 94-51 and three singles titles. Sieg has enjoyed similar success as a junior doubles player, going 85-42 and claiming eight titles. 

Before she was winning titles around the world, however, Sieg was following her mother on the tennis tour.

“I got into tennis mostly because of my mom,” Sieg said. “When I was three, there are pictures of me on the court with her, and ever since then she’s kind of helped me get to where I am today.”

Sieg’s mother, two-time USC NCAA tennis champion Heliane Steden, brought tennis into Sieg’s world. Sieg started at a tennis club in Greenwich, practicing and playing at different camps. But as young as eight years old, Sieg was ready to make the sport her own.

Sieg remembered losing her first match at her first tournament, and how upset she was with herself. Too upset, she thought in hindsight. But it would set the tone for how she would approach the rest of her career.

“I just saw from the first tournament when I was eight, I saw how competitive I was,” Sieg said. “Ever since then, I never really played any other sports. I just did tennis.”

Sieg’s competitiveness was obvious, even to those who did not know her well. When USC women’s tennis Head Coach Alison Swain first met Sieg alongside her mother at the US Open, she quickly saw that Sieg had enormous potential as a recruit, even when she was so young.

“The thing that stood out to me is when she was playing those matches, she was such a determined competitor,” Swain said. “She just was so focused and driven on court, and that was obvious watching her play.”

Sieg’s determination to succeed as a tennis player eclipsed all other interests in her life. After eighth grade, Sieg chose to leave school and participate in an online school program called Laurel Springs, which took her away from her friends but closer to her goal of professional tennis.

Like everything else, her time was just another trade she was making on her road to being great, and online school gave her the flexibility she needed to train harder and travel for competitions. As Sieg began to rack up the wins, it was clear that her investment was paying off. 

“Through all my training, I’ve trusted my hard work and I know that I’m better than a lot of people,” Sieg said. “The thing I always tell myself is you’re tougher, and no matter who’s on the other side, I just know that I can be more competitive and outwork them.”

While she did not know it then, Sieg was making connections across the tennis world. Connections that would only become evident as she entered the college recruitment process and began to look at USC. At 13 years old, Sieg faced off in a Newport Beach tournament against Eryn Cayetano, who she would end up playing alongside in doubles matches when she got to college.

Cayetano said she remembers facing off against Sieg and feeling confident in her chances. She was older, and she remembered Sieg being a scrawny kid. Sieg still took the match and left a serious impression on Cayetano.

It wasn’t the first time Sieg had astounded an opponent or a spectator, and it wouldn’t be the last. At the start of her freshman year, Sieg debuted at No. 2 in the NCAA rankings and has since gone 23-1, including a 13-0 dual record. She has not lost a match since September, despite moving onto center court at the very beginning of the season.

While a move to center court may have been in the cards since the beginning, Sieg’s first match at center court was not planned. Sieg remembers her coach telling her that she was being moved to the top court five minutes before the match began, while she had been preparing to go on court three.

“Just winning that first match made me really confident that I was ready to be in that position,” Sieg said. “I knew deep down I trust myself, and I know how hard I’ve worked, so I knew I was ready for it.”

Despite experiencing enormous success both at USC and beyond, Sieg remains incredibly humble, both by her own assessment and by her teammates. Off the court, Sieg also describes herself as “bubbly and caring,” while her doubles partner considers her “ambitious and steady.”

Regardless of what words one uses to describe her, nothing can hide Sieg’s determination to succeed. Whether on the court, in the classroom or just hanging out with friends, Sieg’s competitive spirit is always there.

“She’s accomplished so much in such a short period of time and would never take credit for it for herself,” Cayetano said. “Whatever this girl wants, she’ll go out and get it.”

The respect and friendship between Cayetano and Sieg go both ways. Sieg’s relationship with Cayetano, from opponents to teammates to partners to friends, has become an essential part of her college experience.

“She cracks me up all the time, but [Cayetano is] just someone to talk through if you feel a little bit nervous. She always makes me smile,” Sieg said. “She’s like my mom, basically, but also my best friend and a really, really good doubles partner.”

USC has given Sieg a chance to attend school in person for the first time since middle school, and playing college tennis has given Sieg that chance to put on a show. Unlike pro tournaments, where the environment is quieter and more subdued, Sieg said she loves the energy of playing at college matches and the chemistry of working with her teammates toward a shared goal.

Professional tennis has been Sieg’s past, and it is undoubtedly her future, whether this year, next year or whenever she decides to make the full transition. Now, however, Sieg is focused on college and enjoying her experience with her teammates.

“I love the energy and I love having my teammates out there doing the same thing as me,” Sieg said of her college experience. “It gets me pumped up, because in a pro tournament, if I scream ‘come on,’ it’s kind of weird … Especially when I’ve gone to pro tournaments after a college match, I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh, why am I the only one yelling?’”

At just 19, Sieg has already accomplished incredible feats on and off the tennis court. She is a leader, she is a teammate, she is a friend and she is a champion. She has big dreams and the talent and work ethic to make them a reality.

In the meantime, Sieg is a Trojan trying to bring home an NCAA championship for the women’s tennis team for the first time since her mother’s USC team did it in 1985 and secure the individual championship.

“We’re just champions no matter what, especially how I know how hard we work,” Sieg said. “I just want to be remembered as someone who really cared about this team and helped everyone get to their end goals.”