Twin brothers and sisters vying for titles at Clay Court
FORT LAUDERDALE — In case spectators at this week’s boys and girls 14 USTA National Clay Court Championships were wondering if they were seeing double, theywere.
The girls’ 192-player tournament at Plantation’s Veltri Tennis Center has been crushed by rain all week, but that hasn’t stopped 14-year-old twins Allura and Mirabella Zamarripa ofNapaValley, Calif., from marching through the singles draw.
Allura, the lefty of the 5-foot-8 pair, used her long, sinewy arms to gobble up the softer offerings of Misa Malkin, the sixth seed from Tucson, and even displayed soft-touch lobs tosetupseveral putaway volleys in a routine 6-0, 6-3 victory Wednesday to reach the sweet 16.
Mirabella, younger by five minutes, was unable to complete her round-of-32 match due to rain.
However, Connor and Jake Krug, 14-year-old twin brothers from the Sarasota suburbs, didn’t fare as well at Lauderdale Tennis Club. Jake, ranked 31st nationally and the lefty of the pair, was unable to convert a set point in the second-set tiebreaker before falling 6-1, 7- 6 (6) to Jiaxi Ma, 13, a native of China living in Alhambra, Calif.
Connor, the eighth seed and 30 seconds older than Jake, was unable to overcomea painful bruised right foot or his consistent opponent, Hudson Beaudoin, in a third-set tiebreaker loss on Tuesday.
Both sets of twins have had more success together than apart and are very much alive in the doubles draw as the respective top seeds. Due to the weeklong rain delays, the Zamarripa sisters, who have won several Northern California Level III doubles tournaments together, have yet to play their first match.
Earlier Wednesday, Jake and Connor edged James Cockrell and Nico Jamison 7-6 (6), 6-2 in a secondround match at the Jimmy Evert Tennis Center to reach the final 32.
Similar to identical twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the winningest doubles team in professional tennis history, these junior versions also seem to know each other’s moves on the court without speaking.
“Most people have signs on when to poach, but if I hit a great serve, Connor knows where the return is going and it’s instinctive whether he goes or not,’’ said Jake, who along with Connor won a recent doubles title in aUSTANational Level 11 tournament in Arlington, Texas.
“Sometimes when I say, ‘Bella, get this ball,’ I don’t actually say it out loud and she just goes and gets it,’’ Allura said. “We don’t say anything, and we know what to do. When we do talk, it’s kind of weird because we say the same thing.’’
Unlike the Bryan twins, whosaid when theywere in juniors that if they reached a Grand Slam final against each other theywould flip a coin to determine the winner rather than fight it out, these two sets of twins have no such sentimental issue.
“It’s the same as playing anyone else except you want to win a lotmore,’’ said Connor, who’s 3-0 against Jake in tournaments this year, including a quarterfinal win in the aforementioned event in Texas. “You’ll run down every ball, yelling, ‘Come on!’ and just be fired up.’’
“It’s about even in the backyard,’’ said Jake, who at least has the height advantage at 6-1 to Connor’s 5-11. “You’ve got to treat it like any other match. You’re playing the ball, not the opponent.’’
“I always want to beat her to get the feeling,’’ Mirabella said. “Definitely, we’d play it out.’’
The Krugs’ love of sports runs deep. Sherri and sister Terri played tennis for NotreDamewhere Sherri’s 6-5 husband Tommy played quarterback until a neck problem cut short his career.
They’re the daughters of ESPN’sHall ofFamecollege basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale, who along with wife Lorraine, have been nervous ly watching their grandchildren play all week.
Perhaps the true star of the family is 12-year-old, 5-9 Ava Krug, the11th seed, who reached the quarterfinals of the girls 12 National Clay Court championships with a 6-1, 7-6 (5) victory over 17th-seed Jacqueline Soloveychik at the Polo Club in Boca Raton.
Krug, who hasn’t dropped a set, will play Natalie Block of Plantation, who dispatched Natalia Perez of Puerto Rico, 6-1, 6-1.