On paper, the Burdette sisters, sophomore Lindsay and Erin ‘05, are as close as you can get. Both highly-touted recruits for the Stanford women’s tennis program, Lindsay and Erin come from a tennis-strong family from their parents down to their siblings.

In her four years at Stanford, Erin proved herself on the collegiate stage, becoming a four-time All-American with a 118-30 career overall record. She is also No. 15 in Stanford history with 77 career dual victories.

Last season, younger sister Lindsay was just entering Stanford as an unproven freshman, already with high expectations for her game.

On top of the pressure, Lindsay was the only freshman on an experienced squad and had been home-schooled for her last three years of high school.

“It was definitely hard at times, and I felt that it took me until the end of fall quarter to really feel connected and part of the team,” Lindsay said.

“But if it was going to happen to anyone on the team, the best person would be me because of Erin and the history that I learned about from her,” she added. “I felt that I knew a lot about what the team expected and what it would require as far as effort and time.”

Responding to the challenges around her, Burdette began her collegiate career with four consecutive wins and a runner-up finish at the Saint Mary’s Invitational last October.

A year later, Lindsay has certainly lived up to her sister’s standards; the numbers don’t lie.

Both sisters were honored as Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Singles All-Americans after their respective freshman campaigns. Both also finished their seasons ranked No. 13 in the final ITA doubles rankings, losing in the quarterfinals of their respective NCAA Doubles Championships (2002 and 2007).

Erin had a 43-7 overall record including a 25-1 mark in dual match competition, while Lindsay was 31-6 overall with an 18-2 dual match record.

Erin was 4-0 in NCAA Tournament play, and made the semifinals of the NCAA Singles Championships; Lindsay was 2-0 (most likely 3-0 had her final match not been cut short) and made the quarterfinals of the Championships before losing to Miami’s No. 1 Audra Cohen.

Though it is safe to say that both Lindsay and Erin are pretty much identical on paper, Lindsay disagrees.

“The numbers are similar,” Lindsay said, “but everything else isn’t.”

In fact, their personalities and playing styles could not be any more different.

“Erin is very shy, very reserved and very quiet,” Burdette said. “Everybody loves her because she’s genuine and an extremely hard worker.”

“That also translated into her game,” Lindsay continued. “Erin would fight and scrap it out to the very end for as long as it took. She had great volleys, great serves, but in singles she was more at the baseline.”

Lindsay, on the other hand, is quite the opposite.

“I’m much more outgoing and aggressive and that comes out in my game,” Lindsay said. “I really get to the net a lot in singles, and I play a much more attacking game style.”

Moreover, Lindsay hopes to surpass the feats of her sister by the time her career is over.

In her junior year, Erin was poised to garner a number of individual honors, cementing her name into the Stanford record books.

But, after an unfortunate backhand, Erin required wrist surgery and sat out the ITA Indoor Championships and the Northwest Regional Championships. Erin would also sit out most of her senior year with shoulder problems, often playing through pain when necessary.

Lindsay, who has faced similar injuries, hopes that she is past them for good. Months before entering Stanford, Lindsay opted for wrist surgery, which has left her painless since.

“Everything’s been good since I’ve had the wrist surgery,” Lindsay said. “I didn’t realize it but I had been suffering from it my whole tennis career. And it wasn’t until after I got it fixed that I realized what it was like to be without pain.”

And, while the elder Erin studied biology during her stay on the Farm, Lindsay’s interests fall into less academically stressful fields, allowing her to concentrate more on her tennis game.

“Erin went through the whole premed track and it made her tennis so much tougher with the tons of work she had,” Lindsay said. “Her labs were always during practice and usually all of the toughest classes were offered during spring, right in the middle of NCAAs.”

Despite all of the comparisons and predictions, the Burdette sisters remain as tightly knit as ever.

“Our relationship has only grown stronger since she went off to school and especially since I’ve been here,” Lindsay said.

Furthermore, Lindsay welcomes the friendly competition between the two.

“We’re competitive but it’s never direct,” Lindsay said. “It’s challenging each other to do better versus comparing what we’ve done to each other. I hope to do the same things as good or better than she did, but we don’t necessarily dwell on results.”

In the end, no matter who sets the most school records, Lindsay and Erin will always have a special bond beyond the courts.

“I feel like Erin’s such a huge part of why I’m here,” Lindsay said. “Erin’s always had the unbelievable work ethic, and she definitely blazed the trail for me. Whatever I may differ from Erin, I make up for in talent and Erin’s guiding experience.”