Plenty of skilled junior tennis players from around Mississippi and beyond gathered at Meridian’s Northeast Tennis Center for the State Games of Mississippi’s Junior Tennis event this weekend, but perhaps the best player in the tournament was also one of the most surprising at first glance.

Henry Hiatt showed up to the courts on Friday looking the part of a rising tennis star in his head-to-toe Nike tennis apparel. However, first-round opponent Sydney Frazier, also dressed in all Nike save for firetruck red ASICS shoes, seemed to have the physical edge.

Hiatt simply did not have his opponent’s height or muscle development, which allowed Frazier to slam serves into the service box with more power and consistency than Hiatt could manage. This should come as no surprise, though, as the 13-year-old Hiatt was competing up not just one age group, but two.

Hiatt finished his seventh-grade year at Lamar School last month, while Frazier recently finished his senior season at Panama City’s North Bay Haven Academy. Hiatt might have looked diminutive compared to his opponent on the other side of the net, but the 2023 Midsouth Association of Independent Schools mixed doubles champion brought his toolkit of big shots.

Hiatt took the match 6-3, 6-2 in the end, yet Frazier gave him a tougher challenge than the set scores suggest. Frazier’s powerful serve made it tough for Hiatt to steal his opponent’s service games while Hiatt struggled to shake off some rust when it was his turn to serve.

“He has a great serve,” Hiatt said. “I mean, he was ripping the ball. He’s a great player.”

Hiatt gave up some free points on double faults, and his face showed his disbelief every time a second serve landed out, but he only dropped one service game. The younger player was able to break Frazier’s serve in the opening game, and he did not slow down from there.

“That gave me a good boost because he had a really good serve, and I think that determined how the match went,” Hiatt said on taking the first game. “I tried to start with a lot of confidence and energy, and that helped.”

Frazier took advantage of Hiatt’s few mistakes, like when he easily put away a short lob at the net. However, Hiatt leaned on his groundstrokes, including a forehand that he said felt really good during the match, to win most of his rallies and remain in the lead.

During the match, Hiatt persevered through missed serves and some rough shots while wearing down his opponent. After the match, his humility in victory reflected that of his favorite tennis player, Roger Federer.

His father and coach, Northwood Country Club tennis pro Anthony Hiatt, said the younger Hiatt kept his composure throughout despite not playing his best match, and that made a difference in the outcome. Anthony Hiatt added that his serve still needs more consistency, though.

“He’s got to get more serves in,” Anthony Hiatt said. “He’s got to get a higher percentage of first serves in, and then be more consistent with his second serve, but he’ll play his way hopefully into the tournament. As we go tomorrow and get deeper into it, I think some of that will kind of work itself out.”

Two of Henry Hiatt’s singles opponents withdrew before he could face them, leaving him with just one more match at the State Games. Pontotoc’s Jack Tutor, who also happened to be Henry’s partner in the doubles portion of the junior tennis event, fell 6-1, 6-1 to his partner.

Together, Tutor and Henry Hiatt went undefeated in their two doubles matches. They beat Jacob Golobay of Ellisville and Ridge Jones of Laurel 8-4 in their first match before taking down Maddux Turner of Quitman and Laike Satterfield of Meridian 8-2.

Henry Hiatt has been competing in the State Games for a few years now, and he won an event in junior tennis at last year’s games. The Lamar student, who is currently USTA’s No. 5 ranked player in Mississippi’s 14U age group after achieving the state’s top ranking in the 12U age group, said it feels great to win in his hometown.

“I love it,” Henry Hiatt said. “I get to play in my hometown. We don’t have a lot of tournaments here, so it’s fun.”