Mixed Tennis: A proper form of the game or simply a distraction
Tennis is an extremely popular sport all over the world; it is played in many different countries and by many diverse people. There are three main types of the game; singles, doubles and mixed doubles. There are others such
as Canadian doubles, Australian doubles, Jordache tennis and wheelchair tennis but they are not that well known. Mixed doubles is an interesting form of the game which features two teams consisting of a man and woman each playing against each other. Even though
this type of the game is not as popular as the singles or regular doubles, it is slowly gaining in popularity.
Even though information is scant about the history of mixed doubles, it seems that the first mixed doubles tennis match took place in 1923. Some forward looking people decided to give mixed tennis a try; that year Mrs. Mallory
and Baron de Morpurgo played a match against Miss Bowater and Mr. Hodgson. The match was won by the team of Mallory and de Morpurgo. In 1926, other matches took place in England and in 1933 a mixed doubles tournament was held in Berkshire Colony with sixteen
teams competing for first place. In 1956, mixed doubles matches started to appear in America and continued since then. During the 70s the modern form of mixed doubles matches started to take place and the rest is history.
A mixed doubles match is the same as a regular doubles match except that in a mixed doubles contest, each team is made up of a woman and a man. The rest of the rules are the same with the dynamics of the game changing from
the singles format. The fact that there are two players on each side means that more of the court can be covered, and so a different set of skills has to be employed to win points and eventually matches. The mixed doubles format is similar to the doubles game
except that there is the added factor of having a man and a woman playing together to try and win the match.
This is a unique factor that does not really take place in too many other sports because the men’s game is supposed to always be distinct and separate from the women’s version. Many reasons are given for this fact; one of
them is that a lot of people feel that men are a lot stronger than women and so the match will be unfair if a man plays against a woman only. This problem seems to be fixed by having mixed doubles so there is no unfair advantage for any team. The system seems
to work very well and because the dynamics of the match change, the teams adjust accordingly. If a man is very strong at the baseline and has a lot of hitting power he can stay back and hit the powerful shots while his partner can play the cheeky drop shots
when need be.
A lot of players in the past have been critical of mixed doubles saying that it is not a proper form of tennis. Fred Perry, the last British grand slam champion once claimed that mixed doubles was simply a male game with
a woman on either side of the net. American Bill Tilden said that it was a completely unbalanced version of the game and very uninteresting. Things have really changed over the years and the mixed doubles game has slowly gained a sense of respectability.
Nowadays with the women’s game becoming as popular and enjoyable to watch as the men’s game and with women players becoming stronger and fitter over the years, the mixed doubles game is becoming an increasingly popular form
of the game. Hopefully it will continue to gain popularity and more tournaments dedicated to the format will spring up in the next few years.
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