Ava Shapiro helped Lower Moreland win a state tennis title in the fall. Her twin, Gabriel, did the same this spring.
Ava played doubles on the girls’ team and Gabriel played singles for the boys.
At first, Ava and Gabriel Shapiro were not interested in tennis. But their mother, Erin, wanted her twins to play the same sport.
It logistically made her life easier, although she had to force her then-7-year-olds out the door of their home in Montgomery County to the courts at Delaware Valley Tennis Club.
“Then they became really good,” Erin Shapiro said. “It just evolved from that.”
As they got older, Ava and Gabriel came to love the sport. It bonded them as siblings more than they ever would have expected. The Lower Moreland seniors are preparing to graduate, and while they won’t be extending their tennis careers to college, they capped their final year playing competitively with a bang.
In the fall, Ava, who’s one of four captains and competes in doubles, helped the girls’ tennis team to its first state title as the Lions defeated Scranton Prep in the final. Additionally, her teammates, Hannah and Rebecca Kideckel, who are senior twins as well, claimed the individual PIAA Class 2A doubles title.
On May 17, Gabriel, a captain who competes in singles, helped the boys’ tennis team capture the PIAA Class 2A title with a victory over Conrad Weiser of Berks County in the final. The Lions also won boys’ state titles in 2007 and 2008.
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Each twin was present to cheer the other on.
“It was really special,“ Ava said. ”Not only did I get to win a state championship my senior year, but also my twin brother did. When he won, it was after I already won, so I could relate to exactly how he was feeling. I honestly think that brought us closer because we never played tennis together on the same team, but we shared the title as being a state champion in the same year.”
While they didn’t play with or against each other growing up, they did practice together. They also had a “massive sibling rivalry.” Ava would compare her game to her brother’s, and vice versa.
It led to them spending more time together, too.
“Tennis became something that they shared,” their mother said. “They watched tennis on TV. They played tennis together. They watched each other and cheered for each other. They were also role models for their younger brother, so it wasn’t just practical, it was a place that they connected and enjoyed together.”
In high school, both played on varsity as freshmen. The girls’ season is in the fall and the boys played in the spring, so they could watch each other’s matches. Ava was the manager for the boys’ team and attended every match.
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It gave her an upper hand, she said. Watching her brother play has helped her learn how to control her emotions on the court.
As for Gabriel, he got to see his sister progress in the sport. Each year during the girls’ tryouts, Ava would lean on her brother for support. They compiled a list of things she needed to improve to secure a spot on the team.
“I really enjoyed watching her play,” Gabriel said. “Watching her made me a better player, and it made me happy that she put in the work and it’s paying off.”
They’ve always had a close relationship. Ava joked that because they are twins, she knows what her brother is thinking “24/7,″ but over the last four years, their relationship as siblings has grown into a friendship.
They mostly have tennis to thank for that.
“When you’re growing up, siblings don’t really like to hang out together,” Ava said. “But the fact that our mom put us in tennis, we’re forced to be together multiple times a week, and honestly, it grew our relationship more.”
In the fall, Gabriel will be heading to the Midwest to attend Indiana and study finance. Ava is going to Central Florida and plans to major in health science. It will be the first time they won’t be living under the same roof.
“It’s going to be very weird,” Gabriel said. “I see her every single day, talk to her every single day, multiple times a day, and then going to just not seeing her. It’s going to be a lot different and learning to get used to that.”
Before the two are separated by nearly 1,000 miles, they have picked up another hobby that has led to some recent competition in the household.
“Their tennis experience has made them both great pickleball players,” Erin Shapiro said.