High School South senior Claudia Siniakowicz improved her self-assurance by playing USTA tennis. In her formidable years, however, she gained confidence the way so many other siblings do — by beating her younger brother Robert on the courts.
Fortunately, that confidence wasn’t shaken when he started beating her.
When Claudia was around 6 their father, also named Robert, would take them to the neighborhood park just to hit the ball around. By the time she was 11, the battles were legendary.
“When we started I didn’t have much skill, but as we were growing up I would often want to play him because I was larger and stronger, and it was a way for me to get more confidence, by playing him and beating him,” Siniakowicz said. “But it got to the point where it got a little too competitive and we couldn’t play matches anymore. Our whole family would be arguing. It wouldn’t be good.”
Sounds pretty normal for families with talented children. Those battles occurred around age 12 for Claudia and age 10 for Robert.
Through those intense matches emerged two pretty good — make that very good — players. Now a senior at High School South, Claudia won the Mercer County Tournament singles title and reached the semifinals of the NJSIAA state singles tournament.
As a freshman last year, Robert played second singles for the Pirates, went undefeated to qualify for the state singles tournament, and reached the final 16. Suddenly, Claudia doesn’t mind that they aren’t playing each other anymore.
“I would have to say he’s better than me,” she said with a laugh. “It used to be that I was stronger than him, better than him, and always complaining that I had to play with him. Last year it got to the point he was taller and bigger, so now he has to play someone worse than him.”
Considering the success she has had in just two seasons of high school tennis, it’s hard to imagine Siniakowicz as being worse than anybody.
After taking tennis classes for a few years while also doing swimming, gymnastics, and soccer, she decided to focus on just one sport at age 10. She chose tennis, signed up with USTA, and never looked back.
“My first tournament wasn’t my best. I won a match, maybe two,” Siniakowicz said. “But in about two months I started winning more. I eventually became number one in the District of New Jersey, so I thought it was a pretty good choice.”
By age 11, Siniakowicz was looking for a new private coach. She decided on former Rider University standout Casey Jedlinski, who was coaching at the Monroe Sports Center.
“We got together for a few lessons and continued training after that,” Jedlinski said. “I had previously seen Claudia and her brother training together but that was all I knew about her before we started working together.”
It did not take long for Jedlinski to realize he had a special pupil.
“I noticed she had the potential to become a very good player,” he said. “She was quite strong and fit for her age and this gave her a significant advantage. Over the years she has become much more confident in her game as she became more solid of a player both athletically and tennis wise.”
Look no further than her USTA matches as to how she developed such confidence. Siniakowicz felt that going against top-flight players made her a stronger competitor and mentally tougher on and off the court.
“Being out there alone, without your parents and your coach, you really have to tough it out in the hard times,” she said. “Instead of thinking ‘Maybe I can’t do this,’ I learned to push through those tough times.”
It basically became a case of her athletic talent carrying over into the hallways of WW-P South.
“When I entered high school I didn’t have the highest self esteem,” she said. “But playing tournaments and then playing on the high school team helped me build confidence with all the wins, and being able to stay mentally strong and focused. On top of that, all the hard work that needs to be put into tennis along with the work put into studying helped me deal and focus well and organize all my activities. I became a more efficient student.”
Siniakowicz has only played two years of high school tennis. Since the sport is played in the fall, she decided to see just how difficult the WWPS academics were before she attempted to be a student and an athlete.
She went out for the team as a sophomore, became the Pirates No. 1 singles player and reached the MCT finals before losing to Princeton’s Christina Rosca. She also reached the final 16 of the state singles tournament.
As a junior, Siniakowicz once again decided to forego high school tennis for the sake of education. She had spent all summer prepping for SATs. Because state tournament dates often conflict with SAT dates, Siniakowicz and her family decided it best for her to not spread herself too thin.
“I really missed it,” she said. “I saw friends after school getting ready for practice, I saw them on Instagram and I wanted to be there. But I probably made the right decision.”
Judging by her high school tennis success this fall (and the fact academic powerhouse Johns Hopkins is one of the colleges she is considering), she definitely made the right decision.
“I believe it helped her substantially,” Jedlinski said. “The level of play at the sectional and national level is extremely high, and with gaining such experience she was able to play better and win more matches during the high school season. It also really motivated her to come back strong and close out her high school career with a bang, which she did.”
Siniakowicz agreed with her coach that she had a greater desire and passion to play high school tennis this fall.
“I was a lot more motivated to practice a lot over the summer and prepare for the season and the important tournaments,” she said. “And when I came back I was extremely excited to be back with my teammates and I did well.”
Jedlinski feels that Siniakowicz is a fairly well rounded player, who is solid on the baseline, confident at the net and in possession of a strong attacking forehand. He feels her biggest strength is consistency from the baseline, which allows her to grind out points when a match isn’t going her way and she has to slow down the pace.
“Unfortunately her strength is also her weakness,” the coach said. “Sometimes she can get a bit tight in tougher matches and she stops attacking when she should, and that leaves her vulnerable to players who aren’t scared to attack during important points.”
Despite that, Jedlinski has high hopes for her future.
“I believe in college she can be a great player because she’s a solid player with a consistent serve,” he said. “She also loves playing tennis in a team setting. She really thrives from the support and the camaraderie.”
Siniakowicz is not making tennis her first priority when deciding on a college, however. She is looking first and foremost at whether it fits her pre-med needs academically. If the college she chooses has a tennis team, all the better.
With her high school season over, she is now focused on USTA, and also joins her teammates in volunteering to teach autistic children how to play tennis.
“It’s a good way for my teammates and me to bond and on top of that, interact with people who are different from us,” she said. “It’s really fun. You’re able to see what it’s like for people in different situations. We’re able to adapt and help them socialize and interact. It’s great to see them have fun and make new friends.”
Speaking of having fun, Siniakowicz was asked if she still has anymore of those joyful matches with Robert. “We can hit and train together,” she said with a laugh, “but we don’t keep score.”
