TAMPA, Fla. - The USF No. 1 doubles team of Bruno Oliveira and Rithvik Bollipalli are a study in contrast. 

Bruno comes from Brazil. Rithvik, also known as Sunny, is from India. Bruno is a sophomore, while Sunny is a senior, finishing out his final matches as a Bull. 

They speak different languages, except on the court. “When we speak tennis, we speak the same language,” Bruno said.

Something special happens when these two set foot on a tennis court. “We just complete each other,” Bruno said. “And the little things inside the court, the thing I do very well, completes the things he doesn’t do that good and vice versa.”

“Some days, one guy is down, and the other guy picks him up,” Sunny told Spectrum News. “It’s just a constant battle where we are finding each other, helping each other out, and trying to get our strengths going.”

Those strengths have helped USF win a lot of matches this season. The Bulls ended the regular season on a five-match winning streak, including their finale over rival UCF, to give them some momentum heading into the American Athletic Conference Championship. Bruno and Sunny are doing all they can to help out their team.

“They play very good fundamentally, sound doubles, and I’m a big believer in that,” head coach Ashley Fisher said. “First serves, first volleys, movement of the net and returning well. And just putting a lot of resources into that.”

Bruno and Sunny hit their stride midway through the season, and were ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation at one point. That ranking was the result of a lot of hours spent working together on these courts.

“It was big, you know, it was really nice,” Bruno said. “We worked very, very hard and every day we came here with the same goal. Just to get this recognition is really, really good. It feels good.”

The two have a goal; a spot in the NCAA Tournament at the end of the season. Only the top 32 doubles teams in the country get an invite. Bruno and Sunny want to be one of them.

“Job’s not done. Job’s not finished,” Bruno said. “We still have a goal to be All-Americans, to make NCAA’s and to finish top 8. So, we still have work to do.”