Rochester's Chad Anderson emptied tank in 'epic battle' to win Division 1 No. 1 singles title
Rochester senior Chad Anderson ingested as much mustard (in packet form) and Gatorade as he could stomach while a trainer helped him stretch in between the second and third sets of the Michigan boys tennis Division 1 No. 1 singles championship match on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Anderson, who came into the state tournament undefeated and the top seed, was dealing with leg cramps during the end of his second set against Ann Arbor Pioneer freshman Grant Miller. Miller took that set – the first set dropped by Anderson in the 2025 season – as Anderson fought through his cramps, forcing a winner-take-all third set in the state finals.
“You push yourself past exhaustion in practice for moments like those,” Anderson said Monday. “That’s a moment where a little bit of pain is worth the sacrifice. That’s something I sacrificed a lot of time for — my dream was to win a state championship — so it was one of those things where cramping was never going to stop me.”
Anderson dug deep into his reserves in the only third set he played in 2025, drawing energy from the fans and teammates cheering him on at the Greater Midland Tennis Center. He started with serve and eventually took a 5-2 lead. Miller battled back, winning the next three games to tie it at 5.
Anderson won his serve to go up 6-5. He broke Miller’s serve in the final game to end victorious in the epic back-and-forth battle in the No. 1 singles final. In the final game, Anderson hit what he described as one of the best shots of his career to break Miller’s serve and finally lift an individual state trophy with a 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 win.
“I hit a sliding slice shot that I don’t think I’ve ever hit better than that in my life,” Anderson said. “That shot still sticks out to me because if it was an inch lower, it would’ve missed the net.”
The final point of the match is a blur for Anderson, who had his adrenaline coursing. After winning, he dropped to the ground in triumph. He hugged Miller and then stood, hunched over with his hands on his knees, before he could celebrate with his teammates and coaches.
Anderson had finally broken through the ceiling.
He reached the state championship match as a sophomore in No. 2 singles and then in No. 1 singles as a junior, but lost both times to Bloomfield Hills’ Pierce Shaya. Saturday’s victory made him the first boys tennis player in Rochester history to finish as an individual state champion – something his brother, Clayton, couldn’t in three trips to the state championship match.
“That was all part of his motivation,” Rochester coach Jerry Murphy said. “He learned some lessons, one being that he had to be stronger and be able to hit the ball harder. He put on some weight and, as a result of that loss he had a year ago, he came back with a new determination.”
Murphy asks all of his players to write down two team goals and two personal goals ahead of every tennis season. He brings the goals up as reminders to push players during the ebbs and flows of the season.
Anderson wrote down a goal of winning the state championship. There was no motivation needed for his top player, as Anderson stayed locked in during every point of his 26-0 season.
“I didn’t have to remind him,” Murphy said. “You could tell by the way he played that he was determined to do something his older brother was unable to do. And, he pulled it off. It was an epic battle.”
Throughout his years of training, Anderson always dreamed of finding himself in a scenario like the one on Saturday. A championship match, tied 5-5 in the final set against a worthy opponent. The only part of Saturday that didn’t match those dreams were how he felt after winning.
“It was a lot sweeter of a moment than I honestly thought going into it,” Anderson said. “Maybe it was because of the closeness of the match. But it was definitely my favorite moment of my tennis career.”
Troy wins Division 1 team title
After finishing as runner-up in 2023 and 2024, Troy took the Division 1 boys tennis state championship Saturday – its first state title since 2021.
Troy finished with 32 team points, followed by three-time defending champion Bloomfield Hills with 22, Novi with 17, Novi Detroit Catholic Central with 17 and Ann Arbor Skyline and Rochester Adams with 12 apiece.
Novi freshman Kris Thomas won No. 2 singles, Bloomfield Hills junior Zev Spiegel won No. 3 singles and Troy senior Anthony Wu won No. 4 singles. Biloomfield Hills’ Jonah Chernett and Krish Reddy won No. 1 doubles, Troy’s Varun Shetty and Sourish Darui won No. 2 doubles, Troy’s Nate Wanstreet and Jackson Kraus won No. 3 doubles and Troy’s Raghav Karur and Zain Taqi won No. 4 doubles.
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Jared Ramsey covers high school sports for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at jramsey@freepress.com; Follow Jared on X or Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Rochester’s Chad Anderson wins ‘epic battle’ for Division 1 singles title
