May 18, 2009

Steve Brawner
Special to RivalsHigh

One of this year's AA boys' tennis doubles champions in western Pennsylvania wears pigtails and a skirt.

Her partner is her older sister.

The Timkos ? Karli, a senior, and Tanya, a sophomore, both students at Chartiers-Houston High ? won the boys AA Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League doubles title on May 1.

The championship was a "repeat" of sorts. The sisters won the girls' AA doubles state championship last year without dropping a set the entire season. When they couldn't find enough players to field a team this year, they had a choice ? play no matches until the sectional tournaments and then play singles only, or join the boys team and play all year.

"I wasn't going to leave her hanging," Karli said.

The result? Karli was the top seed on the boys team and went 22-0 on the season. Tanya was the second seed and went 20-2, losing twice to the same opponent. Thanks to their nearly automatic two points, the team went 19-3 on the year.

Once postseason tournaments began, they reunited as doubles partners, winning sectionals and then defeating Tin Chu and Drew Gallatin of Thomas Jefferson High 6-2, 6-1 in the finals of the WPIAL regionals.

Naturally, their victory against the boys has attracted a lot of attention, but the sisters are taking it all in stride.

"It's a big deal, but to us, it's just like, 'This is high school tennis. This is what we're here for,' " Tanya said.

The sisters began playing together about eight years ago, eventually training with an Italian coach, Mario Fratangelo, who pushed them several hours a day. Eventually, they reached top-10 rankings in their age groups in the United States Tennis Association's Middle States region.

The sisters said their reputations preceded them and that their male teammates this year were glad to have them on the team. Their opponents generally were aware of their rankings and didn't seem particularly embarrassed about losing to girls ? though it didn't help when Tanya wore bows, pigtails and a skirt on the court.

Naturally outgoing and friendly, Karli said she tried to make friends before matches, though she's not sure if she was doing it out of habit or if she was trying to break the tension. Their beaten opponents usually shook their hands like gentlemen.

"Most of them were good sports," Karli said. "We came across a couple of bad apples."

The two players have contrasting styles. While Karli hits a big serve and groundstrokes, Tanya is more of a finesse player with good hands at the net. Both hit two-handed backhands, though Karli said she likes to run around hers. Big Sis wins when they play each other.

They come from an athletic family. Their father, Mike, was a quarterback at West Virginia, while their mother, Shari, was an all-American gymnast at WVU. Shari's sister also was a gymnast ? Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton. Meanwhile, a grandfather played minor league baseball in the New York Yankees' system, a cousin was a state champion wrestler and a sister, Jaclyn, plays softball at Robert Morris.

"We had so many big footprints to fill, and we just wanted to make some new ones of our own," Karli said.

Karli will play college tennis for Marshall next year, while Tanya will begin seriously considering her options her junior year. It will be the first time she will play tennis without her sister, but she won't lack for hitting partners and is still weighing what she will do when tennis season rolls around.

"It's kind of out there," Tanya said. "I can either have a season and play on the boys' team or have no season and play just against girls."

The sisters are looking forward to playing in the state tournament, and although they aren't as familiar with their potential opponents, they are confident they will do well.

And the whole "Battle of the Sexes" thing?

"We don't really care," Karli said. "We just go out there and play our games. We're in this for us. We're not doing it for anyone else. ? We don't care if they're boys or girls. We just want to win."

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