A WINNING PAIR : Stanford’s 19-Year-Old Twins, Tami and Teri Whitlinger, Are So Close and Yet as Different as They Can Be

One might have a hard time believing that the Lakers’ Magic Johnson and James Worthy could run the fast break better.

Looking at Tami and Teri Whitlinger, Stanford University’s twin tennis prodigies, it might be just as hard to believe that they have become closer sisters and better tennis players.

Playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on the UCLA campus--although she missed Thursday’s matches because of a groin pull--Tami Whitlinger is the No. 1 singles player for the 2-time defending champion Cardinal and is ranked third in the nation with an 38-6 regular-season record.

Meanwhile, Teri Whitlinger settled in nicely at the No. 3 slot with a 37-5 record and a No. 17 national ranking. And the Whitlinger twosome were 19-4, 11th in the national doubles listings.

But while adding to their tennis stature, the Whitlingers have also adjusted to life at school away from home, and the 19-year-old freshmen from Neenah, Wis., have somehow managed to grow even closer.

But despite their being twins, this dynamic duo is made up of two distinctly different personalities.

First of all, as Tami Whitlinger said: “(Teri) is more outgoing. She likes to be around people, to be this jolly person. I’m more inward. I like to be alone. I’m very shy. I often don’t open up very much to people.”

Because of that, those who know them say that Teri has had a much easier time getting used to Stanford.

Said Teri: “Tami’s a lot more quiet than I am. And, she’s real emotional. Little things tend to bother her a lot more than me. Because of that, she’s had a harder time adjusting (at school) than I have.”

Stanford Coach Frank Brennan said: “I think they’re different persons. They have to be treated separately. . . . (Tami) has not really been able to get into the swing of things. (But) she’s doing much better now.”

It’s different, though, on the tennis court, where Tami is the dominant twin. Teri said that she was born five minutes after Tami and has been “trying to catch up ever since.”

This is best shown in their doubles matches, where Whitlinger and Whitlinger often argue but usually wind up doing things Tami’s way.

Still, the Whitlingers’ doubles matches are famous for their no-holds-barred shouting matches. At first, Brennan, who was not used to having “two players . . . who were this close,” thought their arguments were just a temporary problem and would go away.

“Usually (with freshmen), you have semi-strangers playing together, and they’re somewhat polite to each other,” Brennan said. “With (the Whitlingers), it’s: ‘Hey, you double-faulted again, jerk.’ ”

Their arguing continued long beyond the point where Brennan had thought it might end. In one of this season’s first matches, he said, “They were really going at it.” A coach only gets 90 seconds to talk to his players during change-overs, and Brennan recalled growing frustrated because he couldn’t give the twins any information because of their bickering.

“It was like, ‘If you want to get in on this, take a number,’ ” he said.

On the third change-over, Brennan said, they finally realized he was there and could be of some use--as an arbitrator. Teri yelled to him: “What do you think I should be doing with my serve?”

Brennan, surprised to be included, told Teri that she should serve at three-quarters speed to make sure she got it in.

“Bingo!” Teri said to Tami.

“Yes,” Tami replied. “Three-quarters, not half speed.”

As usual, when it comes to tennis, Tami, despite her softer personality, had the last word. Brennan said he doesn’t see a contradiction there.

“I don’t think that domineering and outgoing are synonyms,” he said. “Tami’s much more dominating on the court. She’s probably been that way since birth. I don’t know what happened when the egg split.”

Neither do Tami and Teri, though they do remember one thing that happened when they were 10: Teri beat Tami in singles for the last time. So don’t even talk to Teri about Gabriela Sabatini’s early losing streak to Steffi Graf, because hers easily reaches into the hundreds.

“Oh, that’s a depressing thought,” Teri said jokingly. “We’ve played a lot. We practice together every day. The hardest part is it feels more like a practice match than a real match.

“It’s all psychological now. I don’t know what I’d do if she lost. It’s fun this way.”

Of course. Why wouldn’t it be fun to be on a 9-year losing streak? Since the twins share ups and downs, Teri is really doing no worse than breaking even.

Said Tami: “If one of us loses, the other one feels it.”

Said Teri: “Everything that happens to Tami happens to me. I can feel the pain she is going through.”

Fortunately for them, the Whitlingers win more than they lose, reducing the occurrences of twice-felt pain. Each pays special attention to how the other is doing. And if one isn’t playing, that one is always watching her sister’s match.

The Whitlingers also get ample on-and-off court support from other relatives, no great surprise, considering that theirs was honored as the 1987 national tennis family of the year by the United States Tennis Assn.

Their coach, away from Stanford, is their grandfather, Warren Whitlinger, a former basketball player who read just about every book ever written on tennis to become an expert in that sport. And, if that’s not enough, right with them at Stanford is their uncle, John Whitlinger, twice an All-American and an assistant coach of the men’s team.

“My dad was their coach,” he said of the twins. “They did a lot of the same things I did. It’s just fun to watch them.”

Tami said that it was a little disappointing that they haven’t had time to work with their uncle, but that he is always there to give them a pep talk if they need one.

“He’s more like a big brother than an uncle,” Tami said. “We’ve had a lot of fun having him around.”

The twins almost always planned to go to college together and say they have enjoyed doing so. Uncle John says he doesn’t know when they’ll split up, but isn’t too concerned.

“Eventually, some day, they’ll get married,” he joked. “It’s really neat that they’re together and they get along so well . . . (but) I’m sure they’ll do all right (apart). The phone bill’s going to be astronomical, though.”

In that context, it would be easy to forget that the twins have seven teammates at Stanford. They spend so much time together that they are somewhat apart from the rest of the team. The Whitlingers didn’t intend or want that to happen, but figure it’s no more than a natural outgrowth of their closeness.

“I feel bad because (aloofness is) not the impression we wanted to give them,” Tami Whitlinger said. “It’s not meant to be negative.”

Brennan said: “It’s a little bit harder for the twins to adjust to the team, because they have each other. They haven’t had to gravitate to anyone else on the team.”

Even so, they have gotten to know and understand their teammates better, and vice versa. That’s probably a good thing, what with the NCAA tournament under way. Tami, a strong contender for the individual singles title, said that winning it is no more important to her than winning the team title is.

Still, that Tami could win the singles title or combine with Teri to win the doubles championship during her freshman year is intriguing, because they would then have one-upped their uncle, who waited until his sophomore year at Stanford in 1974 to win both the NCAA singles and doubles titles.

If they do succeed, the next question, especially for Tami, would concern turning professional. To answer that, they will be looking to John, among others, for guidance. Both twins emphasized the importance of timing in making the switch--not wanting to make the move before they are ready, but also not wanting to wait too long and lose their momentum.

“My uncle should have turned pro after his sophomore year,” Tami said. “He came back (for one more year) and had a lot of pressure on him. But he’s here to help me with that decision.

“I’m taking each year at a time, analyzing how my game is. (We’ll decide) what would be best for my game. There’s maybe a slight chance . . . but right now I’m planning on coming back.”

Brennan, understandably, would like to see the twins stay.

“Neither one is ready right now,” he said. “I like to see a player finish, once they’ve started. I haven’t seen any players yet that should have turned pro before they graduated.”

Though the twins have made considerable strides this season, there still are aspects of their games that need to be improved. Tami has strengthened her backhand, and Teri hits her ground strokes harder and more consistently.

Both, however, need to develop solid net games. That is a common problem for players their age, who were able to bang away from the baseline early in their careers, but must become more aggressive at the net as they face tougher opponents.

Can they raise their games to meet the new challenges?

Hey, can Magic and Worthy run that fast break?

“They are very, very tough competitors,” Brennan said. “I don’t see any limits on their talents.”