Unionville's Matt Miller is the Daily Local News Boys Tennis Player of the Year 2024

Unionville High School senior and 2024 Daily Local News Boys Tennis Player of the Year Matt Miller is a leader for the Longhorns by example.

“Matt is a quiet leader at times, inspiring his teammates more through his play than his voice,” said Unionville boys tennis head coach Jimmy O'Rourke. “Loud or quiet, he's certainly comfortable being the guy who can carry the team on his back when needed.”

Asked how he viewed his leadership role as team captain this spring, Miller said, “My role as one of three team captains was to be a quiet leader, someone who leads by example. The team knows that I practice a lot, in addition to team practices, and that encourages others to do the same.”

Miller set an inspiring example for the Longhorn team this spring by winning his second consecutive Ches-Mont American Division singles championship, finishing third at the District 1 3A singles tournament and advancing to the quarterfinals of the PIAA 3A state singles tournament.

After Miller's Chess-Mont singles title last spring, O'Rourke said: “Matt is getting better every year, not just in his size and strength, but also in his technique – you can see his power. His tennis IQ is also high – he knows how to adjust. When you go up against a good player, it can take until the fourth game to figure out what to do, but he's usually pretty good at putting two and two together (quickly).”

Miller has also enjoyed increasing success at USTA tournaments over the past year.

West Chester Rustin boys tennis coach Billy McElroy, who has worked with Miller for 10 years, said, “I'm most impressed with the improvements Matt has made. I think he's one of the players who has improved the most in the area over the last 2-3 years – his UTR just keeps going up and up.”

One of the highlights of Miller's 2024 PIAA postseason was a 6-3, 7-6 win over Radnor senior Antonio Fidelibus in the District 1 3A team quarterfinals, helping the Longhorns secure a 3-1 victory. Fidelibus had defeated Miller in the second round of the 2023 District 1 3A singles tournament.

“This (6-3, 7-6 win) was my best match of the season,” Miller said. “I knew it was going to be a competitive match — Antonio is a very tough guy who gets everything back. I gave it everything I had to beat him.”

Next up was the Ches-Mont American Division singles tournament, where the Unionville players finished 1-2-3, with Andrew Ou second and Andy Ye third.

“Andrew and Andy have both improved their games in the off-season and I had to be at my best against them in practice games,” Miller said.

“Matt has really taken his preparation to the next level this year,” O'Rourke said. “He's been working on building physical strength. He's put on a few inches since last year and has been working on building some muscle to be able to compete at the top level at the PIAA.”

After finishing third in the District 1 3A singles tournament, Miller won his opening match at the PIAA 3A state singles event before losing in the quarterfinals to Cooper Lehman of Hempfield, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. Lehman then lost to eventual state champion David Lindsay of Central Mountain.

“After the loss at States, Matt's first reaction was, 'Well, I've got to get better,'” Miller said. “He didn't downplay what he's accomplished, he just knows where he needs to be next year.

“As his confidence grows and he allows his body to do what he's trained it to do, he'll become freer with his swing. His ownership of the course will become more apparent as he heads into his senior year in 2025.”

One of Miller's favorite memories of the PIAA postseason (he also competed in the PIAA 3A team competition, where the Longhorns finished third in districts and advanced to the state quarterfinals) was the post-game team dinners at the Olive Garden.

“These dinners have been a tradition since my freshman year, and it’s something I look forward to every season,” Miller said. “They really bring the team together.”

Miller is a left-handed player and considers his forehand to be his strongest point, so he spent most of last spring working on his serve.

“The players who consistently win the PIAA tournament all have a very strong serve and I want to make sure that is part of my game in my senior year,” Miller said.

The Unionville senior hopes to return to Hershey next year for the PIAA 3A singles tournament. The Hershey Racquet Club happens to be his favorite tennis venue, as he has also played USTA tournaments in Hershey and performed well there.

Miller's favorite tennis player at the moment is Carlos Alcaraz.

“He plays very aggressively and I try to model my game after him in some ways,” Miller said. “A close second would be Roger Federer.”

Miller started playing tennis at the age of 6.

“My parents (Dan and Christi) both play tennis, so I picked it up pretty quickly,” Miller said. “I didn’t start taking the sport seriously until I was 13, and that’s when I started competing.”

Miller said two of his biggest tennis mentors are McElroy and Fazal Syed of Level 7 Tennis (www.level7tennis.com).

“I’ve been working with Fazal for over a year now and he’s played a huge role in improving my game,” Miller said. “Billy has been a mentor to me from the beginning and continues to play a huge role in my development.”

McElroy said, “Matt's maturity level has improved to the point where he's no longer worried about his grades, rankings and ratings; instead, he's working on becoming a better Matt Miller tomorrow.”

Off the field at Unionville, Miller is a member of the Habitat Build Cub and the Earth Club. His two favorite academic subjects at Unionville are English (taught by James Foster) and History (taught by Mike Mangan).

“Mr. Foster and Mr. Mangan are two of the best teachers I've ever had,” Miller said.

Miller will be taking AP Economics in the fall and is considering specializing in that subject in college.