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 competit

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