Doubles Trouble: The Mohanty Brothers

The mantra, “Two is better than one,” is something the Mohanty twins believe to be true. Fraternal twins Arnav and Arsav Mohanty play on Mercer University’s Division I Men’s Tennis Team. Every day the brothers eat, sleep, and practice together with dreams of one day playing professional tennis.
As young kids, their father introduced them to playing tennis. “Our dad introduced us to the sport when we were younger and we just kept playing it. We played other sports like soccer, but we stuck with tennis because we learned it better and were good at it,” says Arnav. The twins were born in Plainfield, NJ., on August 29, 1994. Their family currently resides in Sarasota, Fla.
As the twins grew older, they took their talent more seriously and became students of Florida Virtual School so they could devote time to traveling for tennis.
Their hard work paid off at an international match where Mercer’s head coach Warren Woolfolk approached the brothers about playing for Mercer. Although they both confess that they had never heard of Mercer before, they took up the offer.
This past fall the duo entered Mercer as business majors, and they admit balancing school and tennis is tricky, “It’s been difficult, but you get used to it. You just have to know how to manage your time ” reflects Arsav.
The twins’ secrets to success are a strong support system and some competition. “You always have someone to practice with or correct you when you do something wrong. He’s like another coach,” said Arnav. The twins admit that they are competitive “to the point where push one another,” adds Arnav.
Having your brother as a double partner proves to be an advantage on the court, “since we know each other’s game so well, it’s easy to play doubles together, and it’s easier to work on stuff without having a clash of egos,” says Arsav with a smug smile. “That is some good vocabulary there,” jokes Arnav.
Since the Mohanty twins spend so much time together, it seems difficult to imagine what life at Mercer would be like without the other half. “We would have to play doubles separately, and it would be harder because we kind of have the same schedules so we always have someone to talk to,” says Arsav.
With months of practice under their belts and words of encouragment from their coach, Arnav and Arsav have no fears about their first opening match against Auburn, “We played a really big tournament where we saw some top players play, and we believe that we can beat them,” says Arnav.
Although the brothers take tennis seriously, they also enjoy having fun. Arsav claims that he is the prankster of the pair and “just tries to confuse some people,” into thinking he is Arnav. In fact, even the brothers’ coaches experience confusion in telling them apart.
Despite some speculations that suppose having a twin on campus would be annoying, the twins disagree. Arnav sums up his thoughts, “I love Mercer…the experiences I’ve had here have been great. I think it’s a good school and I think the people here are very nice. We just try to surround ourselves with people who encourage us to do well.”