Every time that tennis player Anderew Farrell steps onto the court, he makes history for Saginaw High School and rewrites record books.
In 2013, Farrell was the first player from his school to qualify for the state tournament in more than 50 years, after a surprising runner-up finish in the regional tournament.
This year, as a 16-year-old junior, he made Trojans tennis history by becoming the program’s first regional champion at No. 1 singles, defeating Hemlock’s Hunter Irish, 6-3, 6-3. Farrell is also the first Saginaw High player to make all-conference for the Saginaw Valley League since the 1970s, according to Saginaw tennis coach Mike Hight.
Farrell went onto win his first match during the state finals but lost his next two. His performance earned him Saginaw High’s first-ever all-state honors. “It’s honor that I will truly cherish,” he said. “To be able to play the game I love and to continue to make strides in it is something special.”
Farrell is athletically gifted and picked up tennis as a hobby, playing at the Urban Youth Tennis Foundation, a non-profit group in Saginaw.
He began playing more and more over the off-season and eventually began playing on the United States Tennis Association’s junior circuit in tournaments all over Michigan.
Playing against higher-quality competition, Andrew struggled. So over the summer, while most kids his age were worrying about getting their driver’s licenses and sleeping in, Andrew spent six weeks at a tennis academy in North Carolina.
“My game has really improved,” he said. “I’m just happy. I found something I am successful at. I am just a young kid from the city of Saginaw. But when I’m out there, I’m in another world.”