Twins play off each other on, off court

On paper, junior twins Christian and Andrew Husby may be hard to tell apart.

Both play varsity tennis, both are majoring in economics and both are members of the Quadrangle Club. They even live in singles on the same hallway in Bloomberg Hall.

The brothers, however, are quick to point out the ways in which they have staked out their own domains, both on and off the tennis court.

"I try to be more aggressive, maybe too aggressive," said Andrew, whose serves have been clocked at 115 mph. "I have got to learn how to keep my shots under control ... I tend to miss a bit much."

Andrew hits with the Wilson [K] series racquets. It is an ironic twist that the advertising slogan for his particular model says to "take [k]ommand of your game."

Christian plays with the Babalot Pure Drive racquet.

"I need the extra power," he said jokingly.

Christian defines his playing style in terms of his ability to return the ball and to be the "moveable object ... Fitness is my greatest strength on the court; when I go out there, my goal is to make my opponent hit one more ball than I do."

"[I have a] very different game style than Andrew's," Christian said, noting that their divergent, and somewhat complementary, styles may have resulted from years of playing against each other and learning how to tune into their natural abilities to resist an attack.

Andrew's focus on hitting winners helped shape Christian into a better retriever. Or perhaps it is the case that with Christian as the human backboard, so to speak, Andrew learned to respond with a more aggressive serve-and-volley game. It is hard to tell which came first, but their playing strategies are distinct.

Andrew was actually the first of the two to pick up the tennis racquet or, at least, the first to show much interest.

They were introduced to the game by their mother, Marian Husby, who also played collegiate tennis.

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"She would bring us to the courts with a basket of balls and just start hitting balls to us," Andrew said.

Andrew began to play sectional tournaments with the United States Tennis Association (USTA) around the age of 8 or 9. Christian remembers following Andrew to a tournament in North Carolina and experiencing that "wow" moment.

"I realized, 'wow, this is something I want to do,' " Christian said. "I started playing tennis seriously when I was about 10 or 11 ... but, no, [Andrew] was first."

Traveling around the northeast from their hometown of Somerset, N.J., both brothers began playing singles on the USTA circuit.

They would qualify through sectional tournaments to compete in national tournaments during the summer. Over the years, their season records brought them to various locales, including Florida, Texas and California.

Both Husby brothers played on the varsity tennis team for their high school, Rutgers Prep.

Because of time constraints, however, they chose to practice with their personal tennis coach rather than the high school team.

"It was a great team that we had there," Christian said. "It was just impossible to go to practice for high school and then to an individual practice with our coach. We just played all the matches and supported the school."

When it came time to look at colleges, both Andrew and Christian knew that they were looking for a balance of excellent academics and a solid tennis program, but the biggest draw may have been the welcoming team dynamic.

"I think the cool thing about coming here is that it's so much easier to play on a team than travel around individually," Andrew said. "Having the support of all the guys during a match is something that was missing in an individual sport."

On the twins' unofficial visit to campus, Andrew was struck by the whole team situation.

"After taking a look at the way the team interacted, at how our coach went about [doing] what he does, add all that together, I can't pick out [any] one thing that brought me here," Andrew said. "It was the whole package."

Christian recollects how his first impression was that the atmosphere at Princeton surpassed that of other universities.

"I was struck by the courtesy and respect of everyone on the team," Christian said. "That is the number one reason I enjoy coming out to practice."

The twins are so respectful that they have even felt uncomfortable facing off on the tennis court.

"I always felt bad playing my brother in matches, making him run and stuff," Christian said, ruefully referring to his status as the "annoying guy" who keeps the ball in play.

"When we played, I'd always be hobbling around because of injuries," Andrew agreed. "There is a little rivalry, but nothing heated."

This diplomacy has extended to their academic careers. Despite their mutual intention of majoring in economics, Andrew has veered towards the finance track, while Christian is studying political economy and also fulfilling premed requirements.

"I do have a lot on my plate," Christian said over an interview squeezed in during lunch. "We actually don't interact with each other much."

Andrew hastily jumped in to amend the statement.

"We do [see each other]," Andrew said. "We're just trying to maintain our own individuality ... A lot of people who know us didn't actually know that we are twins until they asked us."