LEWISTON – Amrit Rupasinghe is a national champion – in Sri Lanka.

Ben Stein is from Pelham, N.Y., and wasn’t sure he wanted to play tennis in college at all.

Together, they have a chance to become national champions – in the United States.

The two make up Bates College’s No. 1 doubles tandem, and with the NCAA Division III national tennis championships in town this week are one of 16 doubles teams with a shot at a national doubles title.

“I’m a little bit nervous, still, to be honest,” Rupasinghe said.

Rupasinghe is a sophomore. The fact that he’s at Bates at all is a testament to good recruiting, and to a proactive college search that he conducted himself.

“I was just looking up rankings of colleges and stuff, and I e-mailed a couple of coaches,” Rupasinghe said. “Will (Boe-Wiegaard) had just won nationals, so I thought this was a sick program.”

Sick, of course, means good. It also represents how he felt the first time he had to deal with a Maine winter.

“It’s cold,” Rupasinghe laughed. “But I’ve adapted. Look, I’m not even wearing a jacket.”

It was 70 degrees at the time.

“I’ve adapted pretty well, honestly,” he said. “I like the change.”

After his freshman year, Rupasinghe returned home to Sri Lanka and entered the open national championship – and won.

“The big dogs were out,” Rupasinghe admitted. “But I was on a roll.”

Stein started laughing at the mention of his partner’s accolades.

“I cannot match that,” Stein said. “He has way more accolades than I do. I can’t even come close.”

Stein looked at Bates because both of his parents graduated from the school. Tennis coach Paul Gastonguay saw enough of Stein to like him for a spot on the team.

“Obviously my parents weren’t going to be mad at me for coming here,” Stein said.

Gastonguay is glad both of his players found their way to Lewiston.

“There’s only 16 teams in the country here for doubles,” Gastonguay said. “I’m looking forward to it. They train hard, they can compete with anyone and they can beat anyone. They both are very athletic and they both have great hands.”

“From a tennis standpoint, I like to think of myself more as a serve-and-volleyer,” Stein said. “(Rupasinghe’s) great from the baseline, so every return game he starts. He’s so easy to play with. He’s a good partner to have.”

Rupasinghe and Stein have their work cut out for them this week, but they’d rather the tougher competition.

“When we play aggressive, we play well,” Rupasinghe said. “It’s only when we play cautious that we start to struggle.”

They’ll have no choice come Friday.