Dylan and Zane Ritter were born to play together – literally.  As twins it’s easy to see why they’re one of the top doubles team in the district, even if you can’t tell them apart.

“It definitely helps to be brothers when playing doubles,” coach Michael Hjort said. “I think that they are more in sync than most and I find it incredible. In fact, the number one doubles team in the world happens to be the Bryan twins, Bob and Mike.”

The twins have more in common with the Bryan brothers than one would think. Like the Bryans, the Ritters also play with different hands. Zane is a lefty while Dylan is a righty. The Ritters have been playing tennis for as long as they can remember, and want to continue playing at least through college.

“I’m not sure about going into the pros, but I’m definitely looking forward to playing tennis in college,” Dylan said.

It’s unusual for freshmen to be the No. 1 team for varsity. But Hjort realized early on, even before school started, that the twins would dominate on the court.

“It didn’t take me long at all to realize that they were good,” Hjort said. “They were warming up for practice one day and I knew that they had tennis promise.”

In order to remain the No. 1 doubles team, the brothers practice harder and longer than they ever have before.

“We practice about an hour and 15 minutes every school day and sometimes on the weekend we go to the courts,” Zane said.

Overall, the brothers practice around 10 hours each week. The competition hits home though, with the boys occasionally ending up in fights.

“If we lose a match, we’ll fight about whose fault it was that we lost,” Dylan said. “But we work it out in the end.”

This year, the Ritters say their best match was against Marble Falls. In tournament play, the doubles team is undefeated.

“They all were awesome,” Dylan said.  “We have just had a great season for far and I hope it continues.”

The team has played in two matches this spring and will hit the court for eight more before the district tournament. Their goal is to be the district champion in doubles, a task that involves beating district rivals Vandegrift and Lake Travis.

“I think that the boys have a good chance for district,” Hjort said. “It is going to be doable and I have confidence in them, but still it will be pretty tough and take their best effort.”