Performance: Bloomfield Hills' Andrew Zhang
October 19, 2017
Andrew Zhang
Bloomfield Hills junior – Tennis
Zhang moved up to No. 1 singles this season after claiming the No. 2 championship at last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals, and he hasn’t missed a beat. The Black Hawks’ top player won his Regional last week, defeating Clarkston standout Luke Baylis 6-0, 6-4, in the No. 1 championship match to earn the Michigan Army National Guard “Performance of the Week.” He has only one loss this fall as he enters this weekend’s Finals the second seed in his flight.
In addition to Zhang’s win at No. 2 singles last year, he also finished runner-up at that flight as a freshman in 2015 in helping Bloomfield Hills to a shared team championship. The Black Hawks finished runner-up last season, two points behind winner Ann Arbor Huron, but entered this postseason as the top-ranked team in the state coaches association poll. Zhang’s lone defeat this fall came to Troy’s Steve Forman, the reigning LPD1 champion at No. 1 singles and the top seed in their bracket this weekend at the Midland Tennis Center. Zhang also had faced Baylis (this weekend’s fourth seed at No. 1) in last season’s Finals championship match and two more times earlier this fall before last week’s Regional.
Zhang is a highly-regarded college prospect nationally and could’ve chosen to not play high school tennis – but noted that he “loves the team aspect of it; our team is so fun, we do all of these outside activities and tennis is just a great time to have a bunch of teammates outside supporting you.” He’s not sure where he’ll continue after high school, but he also carries a 3.95 grade-point average and is considering studying something in the medical fields or business when that time comes – after working for another championship this weekend and playing another season of high school tennis in 2018.
Performance Point: “It was just a great match overall,” Zhang said of facing Baylis at the Regional. “I thought at the beginning I played a little more solidly than he did. It was 3-0 in the first set and it started to sprinkle a little, and it got a little dark outside so we moved it indoors. I thought Luke’s game overall suits indoor better than being outdoors, and the match was way more competitive after the first set. I was actually pretty worried because last year during leagues, it rained that day, and we had to move indoors and it was my only loss (of last season).”
Game changer: “I’m really trying to work on my aggressive game and making my serves a lot bigger than normal. A problem last year was that a lot of people were attacking my serve, so I’ve been trying to add speed to it, add consistency to it. Overall my defensive game has been one of my strongest parts, my counter punching, so my coach and I are trying to play a more aggressive game. In a way I like both – even though playing defensive tennis and counter punching tennis is more exhausting than playing offense, I feel more confident right now playing defense. The offset is offensive tennis gets a lot more free points and you’re not as tired at the end of a match. So in the long run I’m going to keep on trying to build my aggressive tennis game, so hopefully in future tournaments that go longer, a week long, I’ll have more energy as I progress through the tournament.”
Familiar faces: “I definitely think rivalries form (from seeing the same players during high school and USTA seasons). Everyone’s very competitive. Everyone is trying to be the best out there. Usually the top people in the Midwest play in the top Midwest tournaments, play in the Midwest finals, and everyone is trying to be the best they can. I do look forward to (seeing those players in high school). It gives me a great time to work on my shots and be competitive, and to play a guy like Forman again – I just had a loss to him, and it gives me motivation.”
Solving the puzzle: “I just love this sport. I just really enjoy that it’s just you on the court. There’s no coaching in between. It’s just you versus your opponent. You have to figure out ways to dissect your opponent’s game, figure out how to beat him.”
Rafa Respect: “I really love Rafael Nadal. I love how he puts 110 percent into every single match. And he never has a bad temperament. He’s pumped to play the game, but he’s one of the few people that hasn’t broken a racket yet. I think he respects the game a lot. He’s just a great person on and off the court.”
- Geoff Kimmerly, Second Half editor
Every week during the 2017-18 school year, Second Half and the Michigan Army National Guard will recognize a “Performance of the Week" from among the MHSAA's 750 member high schools.
The Michigan Army National Guard provides trained and ready forces in support of the National Military Strategy, and responds as needed to state, local, and regional emergencies to ensure peace, order, and public safety. The Guard adds value to our communities through continuous interaction. National Guard soldiers are part of the local community. Guardsmen typically train one weekend per month and two weeks in the summer. This training maintains readiness when needed, be it either to defend our nation's freedom or protect lives and property of Michigan citizens during a local natural disaster.
Previous 2017-18 honorees:
October 12: Nolan Fugate, Grand Rapids Catholic Central football - Read
October 5: Marissa Ackerman, Munising tennis - Read
September 28: Minh Le, Portage Central soccer - Read
September 21: Olivia Theis, Lansing Catholic cross country - Read
September 14: Maddy Chinn, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Read
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills' Andrew Zhang returns a volley during last season's LPD1 Finals championship match at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Zhang celebrates his first MHSAA title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Anderson's Sad Ending Last Season Driving This Fall's Championship Pursuit
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2025
ROCHESTER – Normally, this would seem like an odd photo request – especially for a shot to become the wallpaper picture on one’s cell phone.
But Rochester High School senior Chad Anderson insisted he had a method to his madness after last year’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Boys Tennis Finals.
Following a loss to Pierce Shaya of Bloomfield Hills in the championship match at No. 1 singles, Anderson had his mother take a picture of him crying.
To this day, it still serves as the wallpaper screen on his cell phone.
“It’s been my motivation since,” Anderson said.
Anderson certainly has performed like a motivated player heading into this weekend’s Division 1 Finals in Midland.
He enters as the top seed at No. 1 singles and hasn’t dropped a set this fall as he pursues what’s been an elusive individual title for himself, his family and his school.
As a sophomore, Anderson lost in the championship match at No. 2 singles. His older brother Clayton advanced to the No. 1 singles championship match in Division 1 three consecutive years from 2021-23, but lost each time to Sachiv Kumar of Northville.
Rochester also has never had a Finals singles champion in boys tennis, so Chad Anderson has that to inspire him as well.
“I’ve seen it happen to me and my brother enough,” Anderson said.
In preparing for what’s been a stellar senior season so far, Anderson went to work on a few components of his game, including making his serve-and-return more precise.
More than anything though, his big emphasis was not on improving technical aspects of the game, but working on his body.
“I put on 20 pounds to be able to hit the ball bigger,” he said. “Last year, I lost in the Finals to a guy who hit the ball stronger than me and bigger than me. I didn’t want that to happen again this year where there was just some guy overpowering me and dominating me.”
Anderson said he started playing tennis when he was 4 years old after his father, a former player himself, introduced the game to he and Clayton – who is now playing in college at Marquette.
Needless to say, there have been countless hitting sessions between the two siblings over the years.
“We can’t play without arguing,” Chad Anderson quipped. “We bicker a lot, but we push each other a lot.”
Rochester head coach Jerry Murphy, who is in his 53rd year as coach, said while Clayton had a devastating backhand and serve, Chad stands out because he has more of an all-around game.
“If he needs to come to the net, he can come to the net and feels comfortable doing that,” Murphy said. “He loves to move the ball around the court, and he wears guys out. He’s focused and does what he has to do. If he needs to out-rally a guy, he can do that. If he needs to outhit him, he can do that. The fact that nobody has taken a set off of him this year is a testament to that, and we’ve played some pretty good players.”
In addition to technical ability, Murphy said Anderson has displayed a fire on the court this year that’s become an inferno.
“He wants to do what his older brother couldn’t do,” Murphy said. “I can see that in his eyes when he plays. He’s motivated. Whether he can seal the deal, we’ll see Friday and Saturday.”
Anderson said he doesn’t feel pressure being the top seed at his flight and actually welcomes the challenge, given it’s a spot he prepared to be in all offseason and throughout this fall.
In addition to himself and his family, providing a Finals champion for the first time to a coach who has been at the helm for more than five decades would be beyond meaningful.
“It would mean so much to win it,” he said. “I’ve wanted it so bad. It would be a good thing for the program.”
If Anderson does win this weekend, he’ll need his Mom to take a new phone wallpaper photo of him celebrating instead of crying.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.