Four-star recruit Nic Barretto releases the ball with immense power, and it passes over the net at full speed, hitting the edge of the clean white line on the opposite side of the court. Paul Barretto, a five-star recruit, groans with annoyance. Repeat.
Paul serves full speed over his older brother, Nic, and drills a ball over the net, leading his brother to swing and miss. Point Paul. Sweat drips from the two boys’ faces, and all that is heard is the popping sound of the yellow ball hitting the tight strings. The sound of a perfect rally describes how evenly matched the two are––on any day, it is anyone’s game.
Just 11 months apart, Paul, a sophomore, and Nic, a junior, are especially close, as they live and breathe tennis together. They travel to tournaments together and plan to attend the same college so they can continue as doubles partners.
The Barrettos competed on the Redwood varsity tennis team until this year, when they decided not to play because they were missing too much school from travelling to elite tennis competitions. Now, the two travel together to national and even international competitions.
In mid-December, the beginning Barretto team tested the waters in the Orange Bowl, a junior international championship held in South Florida. They qualified as an alternate doubles team, and when another team pulled out, they got their shot and made it all the way to the semi-finals, where they lost to a Canadian-Indian team.
After excelling in the Orange Bowl, the duo gained confidence and began to travel to other elite competitions, such as the United States Tennis Association Winter National Tournament in Arizona, where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals after being seeded as the number three team.
The brothers got their first exposure to college tennis coaches at these tournaments, which Nic said coaches attend frequently. Paul, a sophomore, cannot yet be approached, but coaches have been reaching out to Nic since last September.
The Barrettos are set on considering college as a duo, rather than individually, and hope to stay local in California at a Division I school. Paul said that he plans on following Nic to college a year later so that the two can continue their dominance on the court.
Nic Barretto practices his backhand.
Traveling to college together would only be the next step in the journey the two began at a young age. Paul began playing tennis, first, and his older brothers Nic and Marco were quick to follow suit. Soon, all three learned that it was a shared passion.
Marco Barretto is a freshman on the USF tennis team, and their father, Eddie Barretto, also played tennis for USF from 1979-1983.
Growing up in such a competitive family, Paul and Nic were constantly in competition with one another before teaming up as doubles partners. According to Nic, the competition between the two has somewhat subsided now, and they are beginning to enjoy their time on the court together.
“It was that part in the beginning where we just wanted to play because we just wanted to beat each other and now it’s just because we like it so much,” Nic said.
Because they are so close in age and ranking, both brothers have begun to realize the potential they have playing together.
“When other partners play with each other, the communicating part gets a little confusing, but with us that is where we kind of excel because we know each other so well,” Paul said.
However, it took the two a long time to come to this realization. According to Nic, their competitiveness as younger kids created a tense environment.
“When we were younger, we hated playing with each other. We would always get super mad at each other. Then, basically, my dad always wanted us to play with each other. He didn’t force us to play with each other, but he would just sign us up and then we would play with each other,” Nic said.
According to Nic, once Paul entered high school and the two started playing alongside each other on the Redwood tennis team, they realized their strong potential as doubles partners.
Paul Barretto practices against his brother.
Even though they don’t play Redwood tennis anymore, they have a different perspective now that they travel just the two of them, not with a large team. Nic said he has learned to love the individuality that tennis offers him.
“If I’m on a basketball team, I can play the best game of my life and still lose and I don’t like that,” Nic said.
Determining who is a better tennis player is another aspect of the Barretos’ endless competition. According to Paul, every time you ask either of them, you won’t get a straight answer.
“It depends on the type of personality and game style you have,” Paul said. “If I say I’m better than Nic, then he’ll say he’s better than me. You won’t get a straight answer. Every time you ask, I’m going to say I’m better and then he’ll say he’s better.”
Nic, when asked if his brother is better than him because he is ranked higher, said it really depends.
“If I were a sophomore, then we would be neck and neck, but I’m older so you can’t really tell. I’m older so I should be better, but I’m not. I’m just as good as him. So I guess you could say he’s better, but you know, I’ll never say that to him,” Nic said.
