Tennis sceptics have got it wrong – we need more mixed-sex sport events
Some players aren’t happy with the US Open’s drastic rethink of mixed doubles, but tennis should be applauded for a move that is good for women’s sport, says Ed Warner.
Even the most ardent tennis fan probably couldn’t tell you who won the mixed doubles at last year’s US Open, or any of the other Grand Slam tournaments for that matter.
Emma Radacanu’s ‘snub’ to Andy Murray in pulling out of the competition at Wimbledon last year tells us all we need to know about its status within tennis’s elite.
Objections to the shortened format proposed for Flushing Meadows this summer are misguided, then. I’m more inclined to give credit to an initiative to promote an event that integrates athletes of both sexes.
The revamped mixed doubles at the US Open will be staged before the main singles competitions and be played in sets that run to only four rather than six games.
Half of the 16 competing couples will be included by wild card invitation, the Slam’s organisers hoping to entice the sport’s stars to take part within their final preparations for the singles.
They’ve quintupled the winners’ prize to $1m. Quite a carrot. In the process, the traditional fortnight of tennis is stretched to the best part of three weeks, so highlighting the commercial impetus behind the change.
“I’m sorry, but the US Open now will not produce a bona fide mixed doubles winner. Devalued from a Grand Slam title to an exo. Let’s just say I’m in shock.”
Paul McNamee, 1985 Wimbledon mixed doubles champion
Mixed-sex sport remains a rarity at elite level. Olympic equestrianism sees men and women going head-to-head with apparently equal opportunity to win.
Cynics might say this proves that horses are the true stars but, if that is the case, then why are top jockeys in horseracing overwhelmingly male?
Women very occasionally break through into male competition. Fallon Sherrock has won matches at the darts PDC World Championships. Two Italian women have qualified for and driven in F1 races, Maria Teresa de Filippis in the 1950s and Lella Lombardi in the 1970s.
Seven women have competed in golf’s men’s PGA Tour, most recently Lexi Thompson in 2023. Reanne Evans is currently 117th in snooker’s world rankings. Last year, ultra runner Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete the stupendously gruelling Barkley Marathons.
Doubtless readers can provide me with other examples, but the pickings are slim.
The urge for women to challenge male athletes is understandable, but arguably does little to further the cause of standalone female sports, which instead need continued investment to expand their reach, impact and in turn their fanbases.
Integrated events and formats are another matter entirely, however, and have the potential to elevate awareness of the most talented sportswomen.
Mixed relays have fast become a staple of major athletics, swimming and triathlon championships. Track and field competition schedules have not yet been conducive to the best athletes taking part in mixed-sex events which currently teeter on the edge of ‘fun’.
But expect this to change in time. After all, medals are all of equal value to public funders fixated on table positions.
Relays and racquet sports are one thing, contact sports another entirely. Wheelchair rugby is a mixed-sex sport. Although person-to-person contact is not allowed, chair-to-chair collisions are very much embedded in the game’s DNA.
The classification system for athletes with varying impairments has long made an allowance for female wheelchair rugby players to enhance their value to teams.
The problem is that this has still typically resulted in no more than one or two female players being included in overall squads of 12 at major tournaments. With only four athletes on court at any one time, their game minutes have been very limited.
Nevertheless, Kylie Grimes was an instrumental part of Team GB’s gold in Tokyo, and the USA’s Sarah Adam won silver with a lot of game time last summer in Paris.
Now, after a lengthy study commissioned by World Wheelchair Rugby, the ‘credit’ for female players in the classification points system that governs team composition has just been doubled for most women. The race is now on to find and develop female talent to elite level in time for the Los Angeles Paralympics.
One school of thought is that the first nation to create a team which can consistently put two women on court at the same time will be nailed on for a medal in LA. At GB Wheelchair Rugby we’re very much in that race.
The past week has been notable for high-profile statements in defence of the integrity of female sport.
President Trump has said he won’t issue visas to the LA 2028 Olympics for women competitors who were not biologically female at birth. President Coe has said World Athletics will introduce mouth swabs to verify the birth sex of elite female athletes.
At a time when the defences protecting female sport are strengthened, and investment is being channelled into its growth, the development of mixed events and sports is an opportunity to reinforce the status of the world’s best sportswomen while providing new opportunities for fans to engage with them.
If current lobbying goes the right way, expect to see mixed team golf at LA28. More such initiatives please!
More sinned against?
It’s hard to know whether or not to feel sorry for the beleaguered World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in the case of Jannik Sinner.
Tennis’s world No1 is now banned for three months for a doping offence. Victory for Wada after it appealed the decision of the International Tennis Integrity Agency to excuse Sinner for an inadvertent failed test? Or defeat in the Italian getting a ban so short that he’s back in time for the next Grand Slam in Paris?
I’m reminded of the 21-month, partially retrospective, ban handed to hurdler LaShawn Merritt for his bedroom use of ExtenZe – euphemistically described as a ‘male enhancement’ product.
The odd length of his ban – two years would have been more usual – conveniently allowed Merritt to return to competition in time for the 2011 World Championships, where he won silver and gold medals.
“I hope my sponsors, family, friends and the sport itself will forgive me for making such a foolish, immature, and egotistical mistake.”
LaShawn Merritt
Devil may care
Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s economising at Manchester United, coupled with the team’s performances on the pitch, is the gift that keeps on giving for fans of other clubs.
“People are losing their jobs so we have to acknowledge that the biggest problem is the football team. We spend the money. We are not winning.”
Ruben Amorim, Man Utd manager
United’s corporate structure is unconventional, which renders its share price an unreliable barometer of financial success (and failure), but eight per cent down so far in 2025 nicely reflects the Red Devils’ struggles in the Premier League, where they currently sit in 15th place. Efficient markets and all that.
Keely’s Kurse
No sooner had I lauded Keely Hodgkinson’s bravery in risking hamstrings and head colds in putting her name to the Keely Klassic than the star pulled a hammy in the final training session ahead of her attempt on the world indoor 800m record.
Great to see then that the event still pulled in a young, enthusiastic crowd last weekend. Here’s to the second edition in 2026!
Ed Warner is chair of GB Wheelchair Rugby and writes his sport column at sportinc.substack.com