Together, Twins Might Get Into Doubles Trouble

Playing tennis is a family affair at San Fernando High, especially if your last name is Arteaga.

Senior twins Violeta and Gilda Arteaga have played varsity doubles the past two years with the Tigers, but always on separate teams.

“It takes a very special combination for brothers or sisters to be able to play together,” said San Fernando Coach Park Cockerill, the father of twins. “[Mike and Bob] Bryan can do it, but not many others can.”

So Violeta plays at No. 1 doubles with Lidia Cordero, where the pair have lost only three matches this season.

Gilda plays at No. 3 with Gloria Garcia. The twins have never played together competitively but do practice against each other.

The twins aren’t the only Arteagas at San Fernando. Sophomore Maria Arteaga plays No. 2 doubles with Claudia Perez. Maria’s older sisters, Lupe, Maricela and Yesenia, played for the Tigers.

“We might be cousins or something but we haven’t really checked,” Maria Arteaga said. “But now a lot of people think that I’m a twin, or at least their sister.”