Happy 26th birthday today to Illini tennis twins Melissa and Tim Kopinski. The siblings from Palos Heights and graduates of Chicago's Amos Alonzo Stagg High School were the first twins to play concurrently for Illinois' tennis program.
Melissa and Tim are the only two children of Polish immigrants Jan and Zofia Kopinski. They began playing tennis as toddlers and also played hockey together.
"They made us pick a sport we could both play with each other so we couldn't get bored," Melissa told The News-Gazette in 2013.
Melissa, a minute older than her "younger" brother, had a distinguished career for the Orange and Blue.