Skye Madatali earns prestigious Bill Talbert Junior Sportsmanship Award

Skye Madatali is an excellent tennis player, but that’s not what’s most important for her. She played in the Level 1 USTA Billie Jean King Girls’ 18s National Championships in early August in San Diego. But that wasn’t the highlight.

She even won the Girls’ 18s singles and doubles competition at Rally in the Valley, a USTA Missouri Valley Level 3 closed competition with players from all across the five-state section. But, you guessed it, that’s not what drove her.

During the opening ceremonies at the national championships in San Diego, Madatali received the Bill Talbert Junior Sportsmanship Award, the highest sportsmanship honor at her age group nationally. She’s still early in her tennis journey, but that award is the culmination of her career so far.

“I was really surprised to receive the Bill Talbert Sportsmanship Award,” Madatali said. “I’m truly thankful for the recognition.”

Madatali felt like she played pretty well at the national championships, winning her first-round match before losing to Tianmei Wang, who competes at Stanford University.

“All the top juniors play in that tournament if they qualify, regardless of whether they’re going pro or not,” Madatali said. “If you win it, you receive a main-draw spot in the US Open.

“So it’s pretty tough competition. I feel like I played well and built my confidence overall. I definitely learned a lot from the experience, and I’m looking forward to taking that into the next tournaments.”

A Sport for the Family

Madatali has been playing tennis longer than she remembers.

“I’ve been playing tennis basically since I could walk,” she said. “Both of my parents played in college. My sister, Ariel, plays for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. We started playing with balloons and kid’s racquets, and we’ve been playing ever since.”

With her parents and sister deeply involved in the sport, Madatali said character has always been part of her upbringing. She said she plays by the “golden rule.”

“I’m super grateful for my parents and my sister for being great role models and teaching me almost everything I know,” she said. “I try to treat everyone how I’d want to be treated. I wouldn’t want to be cheated, so I would never want to cheat someone else. That’s super important to me. I always try to bring that attitude everywhere I go.