'He wins with grace': Drew Hedgecoe notches 4th straight boys tennis state singles title

Yahoo

11-05-2025

BURLINGTON —Terry Sanford's Drew Hedgecoe accomplished something that nobody has done in the state since Charlotte Catholic's Kyle Johnson in 2012.
On Saturday afternoon at the Burlington Tennis Center, the Baylor tennis commit became just the second boys' tennis player to win the singles championship four years in a row after notching his fourth against Hickory's Graham Powers.
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"It's an honor to coach someone of this talent level," Terry Sanford tennis coach Christopher Goodman said about his champion.
In Saturday's semifinals, Drew faced his competitor in last year's 3A East semifinals, South Central's Shaw Akula, and lost the first set of his career, 4-6, before coming from behind in the last two sets, 6-3, 6-1.
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"It's the mental toughness that he possesses— he's willing to play the villain role," Goodman said. "When you've already won three state championships, everyone is rooting for the other guy, no matter who they are. And he played a phenomenal draw this year."
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For Coach Goodman, the most impressive feature of Drew's championship push was his improved health after dealing with a stress fracture over the last couple of years and finally being able to play at 100%.
"As crazy as it sounds, this is Drew's first year of being healthy in high school. He hasn't been healthy in his three previous titles, and while that was amazing in itself, this year, he truly had an uphill battle where everyone was going to give him their best, and he had to be ready for that, and he was up for the challenge," Goodman said.
"I told him during the match when he secured a significant point and no one cheered for him that it gets lonely at the top — embrace that role because everyone doesn't get that opportunity. And he embraces those moments of being challenged. He wants those situations."
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When asked if the state will ever see another tennis player like Drew Hedgecoe, who has a 99.5% win percentage in played sets, Goodman said, "I don't think so."
Now, while also being an all-conference golfer for Terry Sanford, Hedgecoe's goal is set to help secure a third consecutive NCHSAA 3A golf title for the Bulldogs next week.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NCHSAA Drew Hedgecoe secures 4th straight state tennis title