November - December 1998 | Vol. 9, No. 6

Some fans can’t tell them apart, but for identical twins Joy MacKenzie and Jackie Paraiso, their personalities couldn’t be any more different.

TWO PEAS IN A POD

Jackie’s your basic type A personality. Joy’s a type B. And, according to MacKenzie, those differences became clear at an early age.

“One time,” she said, “when this girl down the street wanted to beat me up, Jackie told me, ‘You run home, Joy. I’ll take care of her.’ I don’t think she really wanted to, but she told me to go ahead and run home and tell mom. ‘I’ll beat her up for you’.”

Paraiso’s recollection of the childhood adventure varied somewhat. “I told Joy to just run home and I’d take care of it,” Paraiso said. “Then, I don’t know, [the girl and I] kind of slapped each other around a little bit and that was it.”

According to Joy, even that memory of what happened differs. “Actually, we threw her into a palm tree or something like that.”

If anything, the two-time defending world doubles champions are opposite, yet equal.

“We were running down the alley one time and both tripped,” Paraiso said. “We skinned the same places on our bodies but on opposite sides – like my left hand and her right hand. It was just really weird.”

“Another time, I chipped my front tooth on a car, goofin’ off with my brother. Not too long after that, Joy chipped the exact same tooth but on the opposite side.” Hmm... In doubles, Joy scores points from the forehand side (right), while Jackie hits her winners from the backhand side (left). Equally effective. Opposite sides.

So, who’s going to say which one is the better doubles player?

“I think Jackie is probably one of the best doubles players ever,” MacKenzie said. “She knows all of the shots in doubles and has a lot of serves. It seems like she’s done well with a lot of different types of players.”

In addition to the numerous titles with Joy (shown far left), Jackie claims two separate world titles – one each with Malia Bailey (1990) and Laura Fenton (1994). Paraiso also teamed with Michelle Gould to capture the 1990 and ‘91 U.S. national doubles crowns.

But according to Jackie ... “When [Joy] is on and she’s playing her game, there’s nobody I’ve ever played with that’s as good as her,” Paraiso said. “Her shot selection, her quickness . . . just the way we click together.”

OK, they’re both excellent. But when did they realize their potential? According to Paraiso, “In 1987 – we played doubles at (WPRA) pro nationals. I think it was our first pro stop ever. We both did really well in singles and then we got to the finals in doubles. We didn’t lose by much. I think we went tiebreaker. We almost won it.”

So, why did it take another five years before the twins would team up to earn national crown?

“[Joy] stopped playing and started her family,” Paraiso said. “My first nationals (doubles) was with Robin Whitmire and we got to the semis and lost really close. Then, I played with Michelle for like three years. Then I asked my sister to come back and play . . . It was her first nationals back when we played Mary Lyons and Susan Pfahler (winners in 1992). We’ve been in the finals ever since.”

The twins took second in ‘92 and again in ‘93 before gaining some revenge on the Lyons-Pfahler duo in the U.S. national finals in ‘94. Two more silver medals followed as Cheryl Gudinas and Gould dominated the fall event . . . until last year, when upstart Yesenia Delbusto and Kersten Hallander beat the two-time defending champs in a surprise, early round upset which cleared the way to another title for the twins.

As the current defending national champs and the two-time defending world titleholders, the twins understand their success. “I think I work really well with her,” Joy said of Jackie.

“I think she’s a strong player. I have to be patient. The forehand (right side) player must be patient. If not, you can take away a lot of shots that would be a better opportunity for the backhand (left side) player to take with their forehand.”

Paraiso — the type A twin — feels that the mental aspect is important, as well. “You definitely have to have that (killer) mentality,” she said. “Otherwise, you’ll be feeling so nice that you have to give the other team a point by skippin’ it or something like that. You have to have that mentality of wanting to win.

“At the same time, you can still be nice and still say, ‘Good shot.’ And you can give up a shot if you think the call was wrong — which we’ve done.”

The toughness mentality of high-level doubles was maybe the toughest aspect for MacKenzie to grasp. “I’ve learned to be that way,” MacKenzie said. “I used to be a lot nicer on the court. My husband (Bob) and Fran Davis taught me how to be tough.

“Fran told me once, ‘If you want to win at this level, you have to learn to play at this level.’ She was just telling me that I needed to be a little bit tougher, not take things personally and hold my ground.”

But, perhaps the most important part of playing great doubles is finding a good friend.

“I like a partner that I can hang with – off and on the court,” Paraiso said. “Somebody that you really enjoy playing with and also enjoy being with.”

“It’s definitely a lot more fun playing with my sister [Joy]. You’ve got the whole dynamics of being a twin, too. I think it’s neat for people to see twins and friends getting along out there and enjoying it.”

And what about those freaky “twins” experiences? “We might say the same things at the same times or something,” Jackie said.

“We might think the same things, but I don’t know if that’s really weird twin stuff or not . . . It’s just like any two good friends hanging out together.”

So maybe they’re not so similar after all . . . well, except for their looks.