Tennis team is literally a family
Four brothers make up the entire Brookfield East singles lineup.
Jeff Knutson estimates that at least once per tournament, someone will ask if his children are quadruplets.
They aren’t, but it’s awfully close. The Brookfield East sophomore trio of Colin, Andrew and Jonathan Knutson (born in that order) are triplets, and freshman Christopher Knutson is 15 months younger and about a half-inch taller than his older brothers.
The next question: “So you had triplets, and then another child in rapid succession?”
“I would say don’t plan your life out,” mom Susan Knutson said with a laugh. “Things just happen sometimes. (Christopher) just showed up one day.”
The four brothers represent the entire Brookfield East singles lineup, and they’ll be crucial as the Spartans head into the WIAA Division 1 team state tennis tournament, beginning Friday at
Tennis Stadium in Madison. East, the No. 2-seeded team in the eight-team Division 1 draw, will be expected to reach the state final and clash with Greater Metro foe Marquette.
“We started playing a little bit when they were very young, but we were casual players,” Jeff said. “We played a little bit growing up but hadn’t played in a long time. We took them to the park and got them rackets, and it sort of grew from there.”
Lessons followed, both locally and in Chicago, and now the family provides a quorum for one of the state’s premiere tennis programs.
All four brothers brought home sectional titles last week, as East crushed the field in Menomonee Falls for the berth at team state. Colin, at No. 1 singles, and Andrew, playing No. 2, both made the individual state tournament as a result, though both fell in their first matches Thursday.
“It was disappointing,” admitted Andrew, who has been battling elbow tendonitis this year. “We’re obviously very excited to be going back. It’s a lot different being on the court (at Nielsen) than watching. The atmosphere is a lot different than anywhere else we play.
“For my first time there, it was a really good experience,” said Colin, the only lefty in the group. “I had a good match. At the beginning, I was nervous, but you just play and get over it. You just have fun.”
That will be the attitude when they return to state, even though powerhouse Marquette is the overwhelming favorite to win this — and most every — state title.
“I’d be a little disappointed,” Christopher said when asked if a second-place finish would still be satisfying. “That’s what our team strives to be, first at state.”
This year marks the first state experience for any of the Knutsons. As one might imagine, the difference in the level of play among the four brothers is negligible.
“We were kind of mixed up all year,” said Jonathan, who played No. 4 singles at the sectional. “We were swapping out players, seeing where they fit best. I’d be playing three singles, two singles, one singles. It was just mixing around pretty much the whole year until (coach Linda Lied) pulled us over and told us where we’re playing (in the postseason).”
Without automatic state berths awarded the No. 3 and No. 4 flights, Jonathan and Christopher were relegated to the role of fans for the individual meet, but Jonathan’s record heading into team state is 22-6, and Christopher’s is 25-4.
Jonathan, in fact, was named Team MVP at the East team banquet. He lost only one match all year as a No. 4 singles player.
“He’s playing No. 4 because he has that patience and tenacity to hang out with any style of player he gets,” coach Lied said. “Lots of kids would lose their cool, and he just plays consistently through it all.”
Lied said the four definitely possess different styles. Colin, especially as the lefty, hits a deeper ball that makes him the ideal candidate for No. 1.
“He’s a real coachable, great kid, willing to grind, and he can put the ball away when he needs to,” Lied said. “He just doesn’t ever get blown away.”
Lied said Andrew likes to terminate points more quickly, and the sky is the limit for the youngest, Christopher.
She also said they could play doubles together in the future.
“We had enough strong doubles playNielsen ers this year where we didn’t really need to monkey around with that, but as we move forward, they may want to move around, too,” Lied said. “High school doubles is fun, and after a couple years of singles, a lot of guys will try something new. ... They’re too talented to not have them in a prominent spot somewhere.”
Lied said she was, in fact, aware there would be a Knutson infusion before their arrival at high school.
“I did hear a little bit about that, and the bonus is always that they’re really great kids,” she said. “They’re easy to work with.”
Jeff Knutson said his sons are plenty competitive, but not to the point of fullfledged sibling rivalry.
“I don’t remember a time where there’s been hard feelings after a match,” Jeff said. “They feel bad because they lost, sure, but they don’t hold it against each other and they’re back like this (volleying with each other) in 10 minutes.”
The family lived in Wauwatosa first before moving to the Brookfield area.
“Probably when we lived back in Tosa, just playing at Hart Park, hitting in the driveway,” Jonathan said of first memories in tennis. “Our parents buying us rackets from Target, that’s when we fell in love with it.”
Susan recalled the early years of raising four children basically the same age.
“They’d run all different directions,” she said. “It’s not a lot of socialization (for the adults) because it was hard to take them outside the house. And then, as they got older, they’d be running all different directions, so we’d try to go to self-contained places.”
Christopher, the youngest, said, yes, his three brothers did sometimes gang up on the fourth.
“We’d be playing with toys, and they’d always be stealing them from me,” he said. “It’s a little competitive at times to see who’s better at tennis — and life, basically. We’ve been progressing (in tennis) at basically the same level.”
Susan said Christopher already fit in with members of the team last year as an eighth-grader when his brothers were getting their first sample of varsity tennis.
And now, most everyone thinks Christopher makes the Knutsons quadruplets.
“It happens a lot (that people ask if we’re quads), but we get used to it.” Andrew said. “We have a couple pre-set responses.”
They now will make it the family business to get Brookfield East deep into the team tennis tournament.
“We’ve beaten most of the teams, obviously, except for Marquette,” Jonathan said. “I think we should make it pretty far, get to finals hopefully and maybe put up a better fight against Marquette since we’re more weathered to their type of play.”