Highlands Ranch's Hayden Sabatka seeking second consecutive state tennis title

The Falcons senior looks to repeat as Class 5A No. 1 singles champion.

Highlands Ranch senior Hayden Sabatka is aiming for a repeat Class 5A title at No. 1 singles.

Photo courtesy of the Sabatka family

Highlands Ranch tennis coach Alex Canono always believed the youngster spraying pinpoint shots all across the court was too good to be true.

Roughly a decade ago, Hayden Sabatka was a tireless ball of energy who always accompanied his older sister to her tennis practices. While Canono trained the elder Sabatka, he always kept an impressed eye on the younger brother.

Despite his youth and his inexperience, the kid looked more and more like a tennis prodigy every day. The problem with having such talent in an area like Highlands Ranch is that Canono assumed the kid would one day ply his skills for one of Colorado's high school tennis powers, perhaps at Cherry Creek or Regis Jesuit.

But the youngster from Highlands Ranch ultimately wanted to stay right there, and last year he became the first Falcons tennis player of any gender to collect a state tennis title.

Sabatka, the reigning Class 5A No. 1 singles champion, will look to become the sixth player to win consecutive No. 1 singles state titles since the current state tournament format was adopted in 1994.

"When he was a little kid his sister played for me. But (Sabatka) was incredible, watching this little guy hit the ball all over the place and be accurate," Canono said. "I figured this kid would go to Creek or Regis, one of the tennis powers. One day I took him into the gym (at Highlands Ranch) and showed him the wall with Ann Strother and other athletes like that. I said, ‘Don't you want to be on this wall?'"

Indeed Sabatka did, and last year he earned his historic place on the Highlands Ranch wall of champions by coming through in a state tournament that had proved frustrating in each of his first two seasons.

As a freshman and again as a sophomore, Sabatka placed third at the state tournament, bowing out of the championship bracket with discouraging semifinal losses in each season.

Last year, a more focused yet relaxed Sabatka breezed through the tournament, winning each of his four matches in straight sets. Sabatka did not surrender more than three points in any of his eight victorious sets, and he claimed the state championship by dispatching 2010 state champion Spencer Weinberg of Grand Junction with a relatively easy 6-1, 6-1 victory.

"I pretty much played solid during the whole state tournament," said Sabatka, who indicated he still is sorting through his college options. "The year before, when I lost in the semifinals, I felt like I didn't play very good. If I missed a shot, I let it get to me. I used to get mad at myself if I missed a shot. Now if that happens, I just go on and try to win the next one."

As Sabatka enters his final high school campaign, he concedes the target will be squarely on his back, much as it was with Weinberg at last year's state tournament. Yet with his more focused approach and penchant for working the entire court, Sabatka is confident he can put together a memorable repeat championship run.

And winning another title for the neighborhood school he refused to abandon? Well, nothing would please Sabatka more than etching another permanent championship memory on that prestigious Highlands Ranch wall.

"Both of my sisters went through (Highlands Ranch) and it's where I live, so I wasn't really interested in going to another school," Sabatka said. "It was a good decision. It was a big deal winning last year. No one has done that well at Highlands Ranch, and I felt like I did my part to contribute to the school."