Mixed Doubles Added to 2012 Olympics
by Ben Rothenberg on Dec 10, 2009 3:03 PM EST
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Mixed Doubles has been added as a fifth discipline for Olympic Tennis starting with the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
While I'm not a proponent of same-sex doubles, I'm a huge fan of mixed doubles, and think it should be played far more often. I have never understood why joint ATP/WTA events like Miami, Indian Wells and Beijing don't have mixed doubles, or why grand slam warm up events like New Haven, Eastbourne, and Sydney wouldn't offer it to get players ready for the mixed at slams.
In any event, more mixed is good news, and should make for some pretty awesome action at the AELTC come 2012.
My early picks to medal:
Andy Roddick and Serena Williams, United States -- These two seem to have pretty good chemistry, and their strong net skills and booming serves should serve them extremely well in mixed doubles.
Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic, Serbia --Jankovic has already won a mixed crown on the Wimbledon grounds, partnering with Jamie Murray to win Wimbledon in 2007. She and Djokovic were runners up at Hopman Cup a couple years ago, and seem to be the most likely pairing for Serbia in 2012.
Fernando Verdasco and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Spain -- MJMS is one of the strongest players at net in the WTA, and if the Spanish men really want medals they should start lobbying now to be her partner in London. Verdasco has had a lot of success in Davis Cup doubles, so he's my pick for now.
Any other pairings you'd like to see, or that you think could do well?
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This could be a great opportunity for up and coming players. Carly Gullickson certainly has mixed doubles chops. It might be interesting to see her paired with Sam Querrey or John Isner for the US. Vania King and Melanie Oudin also bring some good doubles experience to the table. They might be interesting partners for Isner or Querry as well. Of course, it may be that this is seen as an opportunity to provide a last hurrah for some old warhorses (think skating’s Torvil and Dean). In that case, has Steffi Graff taken, or is she likely to take, US citizenship? She and Andre could certainly generate some buzz.
It’ll be interesting to see how this all goes down in 2010.
Let us not forget the Bryan brothers & Liezel Huber (assuming the latter is still around in 2010, which I think she will). Huber won the French with Bob this year and a made a mixed final with Mike in 2001.
Nendad Zimonjic might work better with Jelena Jankovic also.
I also wouldn’t classify Andy’s net skills as strong…
Jamie RS
Snaphook Herald
natural gut is love.
snaphookherald@gmail.com
by Jamie R. Belyea on Dec 28, 2009 6:12 PM EST reply actions
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