One of the trademark sights in world tennis these days is that of the Bryan brothers - Bob and Mike - bumping their chests at the end of a successful rally. The identical twins from the United States are now the most successful doubles pair in the history of the sport and have won multiple Olympic gold medals for their country.
In Kerala though, we have the ‘desi’ version of the Bryan Brothers. Siblings Mithun M C and Nithin M C, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, are one of the leading up and coming doubles pairs in state. Sixteen-year-old Mithun and 15-year-old Nithin may not be twins like the Bryan brothers, but both of them were introduced to tennis on the same day in 2008 and have travelled the path together ever since.
Their father, Mohan D, was himself a tennis player and he took both Mithun and Nithin to the Golf Club where they learned their first tennis lessons. “Father and a few of our relatives were already into tennis. So, we too decided to give it a try,” the siblings say.
“Partnering my brother in doubles matches is a very different experience. I feel at ease playing with him and can communicate positives and negatives with him without second thoughts,” Nithin, the younger of the two, says.
The duo were crowned the under-18 doubles champions at the 69th Trivandrum Open Tennis Championship held at the Trivandrum Tennis Club in April.
“Nithin is a very good player already and I think he can be one of the best even when it comes to singles matches,” Mithun also echoes similar feelings. To attest to his brother’s words, Nithin has had considerable success in the courts all alone. He was the runner-up in the under-16 singles of the Trivandrum Open and reached the semi-finals of the All-India Talent Series held at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi in 2013.
Mithun is a twelfth grade student at St John’s HSS, Nalanchira while Mithun has just passed his tenth from St Mary’s HSS, Pattom. Both have been coached by Rakesh J B, Kumar, Mehbin and Biju Mani over the years.