Twin sisters make clean sweep in tennis

14-year-old twin sisters Denée and Luka Lyttle are fully aware that they can be whatever they choose to be, but their hope and prayer is to make a name for themselves in the world of professional tennis.{{more}}

Fresh from securing victories in the Eastern Caribbean Junior Tennis Tournament in St Lucia, the Lyttle sisters dropped in at the offices of SEARCHLIGHT to talk about their recent success and more.

Luka, the more successful of the two in the March 30 to April 6 tournament, took first place in the women’s singles, as well as the under-18 championship, and shared the winners’ podium with Denée , in the women’s doubles finals.

Apart from the doubles finals, Denée placed second in the women’s finals and was beaten in the under-18 semi-finals, losing on both occasions to her sister.

The girls say that despite their victories, the tournament was very competitive, and they were constantly under pressure from their rivals.

“We prayed a lot,” Denée admitted. “Some of the players were good.”

“Yes, and we had to change our style up a lot. We were supporting each other throughout the competition,” Luka added.

Luka credited their success to God, their mom Donette, and all their well-wishers who support them.

The third form Girls’ High School students told SEARCHLIGHT that they started playing tennis about seven years ago, on the encouragement of their mother.

“We started in Calliaqua. Our mother started us, and we wanted to stop, but she told us don’t stop, we’ll get better, and we started to love it,” Denée said.

Although they enjoy the sport, the girls lamented that there are not enough females in their age group who play here, and they often find themselves competing against boys.

Offering encouragement to other girls, Luka said: “Tennis is fun, there are lots of opportunities. It’s a good sport; it’s a bit of work, but you will have fun doing it.”

“And you can win lots of prizes,” contributed Denée.

When asked what they see themselves doing in the next ten years, the girls indicated that they would love to be professional tennis players, hoping that they would receive scholarships, to study overseas, making their dreams more realizable.

But for now, the girls are looking forward to returning to St Lucia during the summer, where they plan to continue their winning ways in another regional tournament.

The girls say they admire female tennis icons and sister Venus and Serena Williams, and are sometimes considered St Vincent and the Grenadines’ very own Dynamic Duo.

But they are girls, and their admiration does not stop there.

“I also like John Isner, Juan Martin Del Potro and Roger Federer,” Luka confesses.

For Denée it’s only one: “Rafael Nadal,” she says, with a broad smile.(JJ)