Scott County player makes history with school’s first state tennis title
The broad smile of Scott County’s Sydney Zakic revealed how much winning the 2025 KHSAA Girls State Tennis Tournament singles title meant Thursday at the University of Kentucky’s Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
“It feels amazing,” said Zakic, the first girls state tennis champion in Cardinals history and only the second Scott County player to reach a state tennis finals. “I’ve never made it past the quarterfinals here. … To have it be semis, finals and now champion? I’m going to remember this forever. So, it’s really cherished.”
Zakic, a senior committed to Northern Kentucky and the No. 3 seed in the tournament, defeated Sacred Heart’s Claire Rueff, 6-4, 6-1 in Thursday afternoon’s singles finals on Court 2 at UK.
Rueff, a junior No. 4 seed and past state runner-up in doubles competition, quickly fell behind Zakic 2-0 in the first set, but rallied for a 2-2 tie before later conceding another service break. Zakic rolled from there.
“I think it was very, very close in the first set,” Zakic said. “She was serving unbelievably. I mean, she aced me like, 10 times, probably, in that first set. And I think as I got grinding down, and as time went on, I got used to the pace, and I found myself adapting to it.”
Zakic breezed through the first three rounds of the state tournament’s grueling schedule as the four-day event bounced from venue to venue to dodge rain and barrel toward Thursday’s semifinals and finals.
She said “stretching and sleep” were the keys to her success this week as she faced a few potential tournament-ending match points against Owensboro Catholic’s Ella Cason before prevailing 6-2, 3-6, 1-0 (11-9) in a quarterfinals match on Wednesday afternoon.
Then, Zakic faced a rematch against 11th Region finals opponent Katie Lankford of Lexington Christian in Thursday morning’s semifinals. Lankford, a freshman, knocked off the tournament’s top seed, Audrina Schaefer of Manual 7-5, 6-3 in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
Like Zakic’s win at the regional two weeks ago, Lankford pushed her elder rival to another tiebreaker match before falling 4-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-4).
Zakic celebrated not just her win, but Lankford’s run to the semifinals in a girls sport that sees more players from Louisville succeed in the late stages than those from other parts of the state of late. Scott County’s Olivia Gallagher was the last Central Kentucky girl to make a singles state finals back in 2019.
“Sacred Heart is a very strong school in tennis. I mean, you can ask anyone. They’ve swept titles all the time,” Zakic said (Sacred Heart players have won the last five girls singles titles). “So, to get one for Scott County and Central Kentucky, it means a lot.”
Other state tennis results
Boys singles: Covington Catholic’s Alex Yeager defeated Christian Academy Louisville’s Landon Ecarma 3-6, 7-6, 1-0 (12-10).
Boys doubles: Covington Catholic’s Kalei Christensen and Blake Hussey defeated St. Xavier’s Aditya Shah and Walker Bush 6-1, 7-6 (7-1).
Girls doubles: Greenwood’s Arden Dethridge and Aisha Merchant defeated Corbin’s Lindsay Jones and Katherine Morton 6-2, 6-2.
Top Lexington finishers
In addition to Lankford’s run to the girls singles semifinals for LCA, Lexington players who advanced to at least the round of 16 were:
▪ Jonah Trimble, Henry Clay, Charlie Mooney, Lafayette, and Evan Fomby, Paul Laurence Dunbar (quarters), in boys singles.
▪ Thomas Chandler/Atharva Dang, Dunbar; Clark Malone/Jacob Holland, Lexington Catholic; and Max Hixson/Mason Johnson, Henry Clay, in boys doubles.
▪ Stella Benedetti and Nicole Hanna, Lexington Catholic, in girls singles.
▪ Eva Quinn/Sophia Miller, Lexington Catholic; Vidya Setheraman/Hannah Chandler, Dunbar in girls doubles.
Team tennis next week
Lexington Catholic’s girls team and Paul Laurence Dunbar’s boys team will represent the 11th Region in next week’s state team tennis tournaments.
Both events run Tuesday to Wednesday with the girls competing solely at UK’s Boone Tennis Complex and the boys playing their first two rounds at the Sayre Athletic Complex before moving to Boone for Wednesday’s semis and finals.
