To talk about Tom Gullikson’s success would be almost impossible without mentioning his brother Tim.

Or vice versa.

The identical twins, who graduated from NIU in 1973, shared identical success during their collegiate tennis careers. Both became impact players in the men’s professional tour from 1975 to 1986. Now, they are coaches of the next generation of the world’s tennis elite.

Tom has been coaching 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati, the No. 9 player in the world, since last year. Tim is tutoring No. 18 Aaron Krickstein and No. 5 Mary Jo Fernandez. Tim also spent a year with Martina Navratilova in 1988.

Tom inherited Capriati when he took over the job of the United States Tennis Association Director of Touring Pros. He’s in charge of overseeing each touring pro in the U.S., but his main job is coaching Capriati.

“Everyone wants to see her do well, and there’s always pressure under those circumstances,” Tom said in a phone interview from his Palm Coast, Fla., home.

Capriati’s early success has brought a lot of comparisons to the legendary Chris Evert, who broke into the world scene in 1972 at age 14.

“Jennifer is better at age 14 than Chris ever was,” Tom said. “Jennifer is much more aggressive and hits the ball twice as hard.”

Evert’s lack of confidence at the net was the key to her downfall in the late ‘80s, but Tom said Capriati’s all-court performance makes her potential limitless.

Tom is also optimistic about Capriati’s serve which has been clocked between 95-100 miles an hour. “She just needs to think of it more as a weapon instead of something to just start the point off with,” he said.

Tim is in a similar situation with the 19-year-old Fernandez. Tim initially started to work with Fernandez after the 1989 Australian Open. A year after Tim took over Fernandez’s game, her ranking jumped from No. 12 to No. 4, an all-time high.

Tim taught Fernandez the top spin forehand, the cross court backhand and improved her serve.

“With a top spin stroke, there’s more margin for error,” Tim explained. “Also, Mary Jo had a tendency to hit her backhand down the line every time. She wasn’t hitting across her body. So we worked on that.”

The main problem with Fernandez’s serve was she threw it too far back.

“Her toss put a lot of stress on the shoulders,” Tim said. “I made her toss the ball about a foot or a foot and a half out in front of her. That gives you much more pace on the serve.”

Tim’s coaching career boosted after his 1988 stint with the longtime No. 1 player, Navratilova. The major contribution Tim made to Navratilova’s game was changing her serve.

Another contribution Tim has made to Navratilova’s game was making her unpredictable on the court.

“Sometimes Martina played with a lot of pattern during her matches,” Tim said. “I told her, ‘Ray Charles knows where you’re going to hit your next shot.’ She didn’t realize it and maybe her opponents didn’t realize it. But subconsciously, they can recognize the pattern Martina has developed during the match.”

Tim was back at his home after spending three weeks in Australia training Krickstein. The 22-year-old Krickstein reached as high as No. 6 in 1990, his second year with Tim.

The 39-year-old Gulliksons have not yet abandoned their competitive playing days. Tom has won the Wimbledon 35-over singles title four years in a row, beating Tim in the finals the last three.

During their college and pro careers, the Gulliksons followed similar paths. At NIU, Tom played No. 1 singles, while Tim played No. 2. Tom finished his 1972 season with an All-American distinction. Tom compiled a 76-20 singles record. Tim finished 80-16 in No. 2 singles.

But doubles is where both found most success. In 1972, the twins finished 16th in the NCAA tournament while accumulating an 81-13 career record. Tom, a left-hander, and Tim, a right-hander, proved to be a force on the pro tour as well.

“(The lefty-righty attack) is always a good combination,” Tom said. “We never had to serve into the sun, and we liked having two forehands to the outside.”

The Gulliksons’ biggest tennis triumph was reaching the finals of the 1983 Wimbledon Doubles Championship before falling to John McEnroe and Peter Fleming.

The twins were no slouches in singles, either. After joining the tour in 1975, Tim was named the Association of Tennis Professionals “Newcomer of the Year” in 1977 and reached a career high No. 15 ranking in 1979. Tom entered the tour in 1976 and came on in 1982, reaching the No. 23 spot.

The Gulliksons’ success during their pro career was considered shocking by many tennis experts. NBC tennis analyst Bud Collins once said, “It’s really amazing what (the Gulliksons) have done without the conventional tennis upbringing. You know, the only thing I can compare it to is the guy on the local first aid squad who’s called in to perform open-heart surgery, and he pulls it off.”