DECEMBER 2023

SPORTS
Connor Shaya (left) and Pierce Shaya
show off the Bloomfield Hills High
School boys tennis team’s Division 1
state championship plaque and signs
announcing their own accomplishments
at the state tournament.
Losing Isn’t in Their DNA:
Pierce and Connor Shaya
BY STEVE STEIN
They never lose. Never.
The Shaya brothers — Pierce
and Connor — each won a flight
championship at the Division 1 boys
tennis state tournament this fall in
Midland to maintain their perfect record
at the sport’s biggest stage.
They also helped lead No. 1-ranked
Bloomfield Hills High School to its second
straight team state title after being
the runner-up in 2021.
Pierce, a junior, has been in the Division
1 state tournament three times
and won his flight each time. Connor, a
sophomore, has played in two Division
1 state tournaments and been a flight
champion twice.
This season, Pierce won the No. 2
singles state title. He played in four
matches at the state tournament and
won in straight sets in all of them.
Connor played No. 3 singles. He
also swept four state tournament opponents
in straight sets.
The resumes of these four-star, nationally
ranked college recruits don’t
end there.
The brothers have not lost a singles
match in high school competition.
Pierce’s current record is 47-0. He’s
72-1 overall in his high school career,
with his only loss coming in 2022,
when he was 25-1 in doubles.
He was part of the state champion
No. 1 doubles team in 2022. He won the
No. 3 singles state title in 2021.
Connor, a sophomore, is 53-0 in
high school singles matches. He won
the state title at No. 4 singles last year.
How have the boys racked up such
gaudy statistics?
A good source is their uncle Chris
Shaya, director of tennis at Bloomfield
Tennis & Fitness and a former twoyear
captain of the University of Michigan
tennis team.
Chris Shaya has worked with the
brothers as a private tennis instructor
for several years.
“We’ve worked on being aggressive
without being reckless,” he said. “And
they use that training. They stick to the
system.”
Sticking with the system is important,
Chris Shaya said, because of the
nature of tennis and how it is scored. A
match can go south very quickly.
“With each game, the scoring restarts,”
Chris Shaya said. “And you’re
not protected by a clock if you’re leading
a match. You have to earn each
match victory.”
Chris Shaya said he attended the
PHOTO BY GRACE SHAYA
state tournament in Midland to support
the Shaya brothers. And watch
them win state titles.
“There was no doubt in my mind,
no question, that the guys would win
state championships in their flights,”
he said. “Their opponents needed
them to not be the best versions of
themselves. That didn’t happen.”
Pierce Shaya, 16, credits intense
training for his unblemished high
school singles record.
“I also play tournaments outside
of high school against the nation’s
top players, so I know how to get into
that mode when I’m playing the high
school season,” he said.
His brother also credits his training
for his perfect high school singles
record.
“I work and train very hard every
day,” Connor said. “I work with my
brother, my dad and my uncle.”
Unlike the high-level tournaments
the brothers compete in outside of
school, high school tennis is both a
team and individual sport. Pierce and
Connor each enjoy the team aspect of
it.
“Tennis tends to be a very lonely
sport most of the time,” Pierce said.
“So, to be training and competing as a
team adds some excitement to it.”
Connor said, “I love to compete
and cheer for my team. Everybody on
our team is very close. It’s fun to compete
with my friends.”
However, the brothers prefer playing
singles over doubles.
“I trust my singles game more than
anyone else,” Pierce said. “I don’t like
having to depend on someone else to
get the job done.”
Connor said he feels he’s better at
singles than doubles.
“I have a lot of experience playing
singles, so I know what to do in pressure
situations,” he said.
The boys do have interests outside
of tennis.
“I like to read, play golf, fish, and
watch football,” Pierce said.
Connor, 15, said he likes to hang
out with his friends and watch other
sports.
The Shaya brothers’ parents are
Donovan and Amy Shaya. They have
an older sister Grace Shaya, 19.
32 CHALDEAN NEWS DECEMBER 2023