Sabina Czuaz, teenage tennis player from Colorado, sets sights on Paralympics

A teenage tennis player in Colorado is making a name for herself in the sport -- all from her wheelchair. Sabina Czuaz has already claimed a number of titles and has lofty goals for the future.

Czuaz wasn't always so good. The 18-year-old from Thornton only adopted the sport fairly recently.

"So I used to do wheelchair basketball, so it was just like a big difference. I don't know, I kind of just fell in love with it," she said. "It's really fun."

Czuaz soon realized, however, that she had a knack for the game.

"Probably after maybe two years I went to my first tournament and ... did terrible but then had been to a few more and then after like a while, after a year or two, I was like, ... 'I'm doing way better than I should be doing,'" she said.

So she worked hard and just kept getting better. Until she became a top wheelchair contender at the Junior U.S. Open.

Her tournament this year went well. She defeated the No. 2 seed to claim the girls' wheelchair singles title, then just hours later, she also won the girls' wheelchair doubles title.

"That was just kind of like a dream come true," Czuaz said.

Czuaz became the first American junior wheelchair athlete to claim both titles at Flushing Meadows since the junior wheelchair event was introduced in 2022.

"That's kind of like, it's a moment where it's like, 'Oh, yeah, this is what happened' kind of moment," she said.

Now she's a freshman at the University of Arizona. She says she isn't sure where her journey will take her, but she will enjoy every opportunity. Even though she has some lofty goals.

What's next?

"Hopefully Paralympics. China 2028," she said.

Learn more about Czauz at sabinaczauz.net.