Tennis player passed on pros to come to Ohio State
Irina Cantos Siemers decided to pursue an education first, after meeting Coach Melissa Schaub, and she is thriving here.
“You can still go pro after college tennis, but you cannot go pro and then come to college tennis and have that experience,” Irina Cantos Siemers says. (Photo from Ohio State Athletics)
Graduate student Irina Cantos Siemers ’22 sometimes can’t believe her luck: She’s able to do the thing she loves most in life — play tennis — while getting a world-class education.
In the regions of Germany, Belgium and Spain where Cantos Siemers grew up, college athletics are virtually nonexistent. At age 16, she had plans to play tennis professionally when she met Ohio State women’s tennis coach Melissa Schaub while traveling for a tournament. She liked the sound of Schaub’s rigorous program and her supportive approach to coaching.
Since becoming a Buckeye in 2019, Cantos Siemers has seen amazing success as a singles player, contributing to Big Ten team championships and earning All-American and 2023 Big Ten Player of the Year accolades. This season, she set a team record in career singles wins.
Schaub led the women’s team to each of the last eight NCAA tournaments, including trips to the Super Regionals (formerly called the Round of 16) in 2021 and 2023, and this season became the team’s all-time coaching wins leader. The entire tennis program regularly makes headlines. Under Coach Ty Tucker ’98, the men’s team contends for Big Ten and national titles year after year.
For Cantos Siemers, who has a bachelor’s in strategic communication under her belt and a master’s in sports management on the way, the university route has paid dividends.
“You can still go pro after college tennis, but you cannot go pro and then come to college tennis and have that experience,” she says. She’s also gained valuable career experience through Bucks Go Pro 2.0, a corporate internship program that provides student-athletes with work experience tied to their future goals.
Cantos Siemers earned a spot as a marketing intern at branding company Serif Creative, where video work proved a natural complement to her media production minor.
One of the video shoots was with menstruation products firm Aunt Flow, and Cantos Siemers was immediately drawn to the mission. After the shoot, she embarked on a partnership with Aunt Flow to install dispensers for free tampons and pads in Ohio State athletics facilities.
“Knowing that so many female student-athletes are able to have that safety within their locker rooms has been huge for me. Now they can focus on other things,” says Cantos Siemers, who hopes to coach women’s tennis after graduation.
