The best mixed doubles teams in history

[BTURNER]

The knock-kneed stepchild of Grandslam tennis. Do you ever watch or would you if opportunity presented and who were the best.

[pc1]

I'll throw a few teams out (even though the teams have the same woman player), how about Margaret Court and Marty Reissen, Margaret Court and John Newcombe and Margaret Court and Ken Fletcher. Not sure if the Newcombe pairing was a great team but I figure that they won a couple of majors and both were awesome doubles players.

[hoodjem]

Not John McEnroe and Mary Carillo?

[boredone3456]

I would have to say Court and Fletcher.

[BTURNER]

Billie jean King and Owen Davidson won 9 slam titles. Billie Jean won 11 total. I take it form the silence no one would watch or has watched any of th mixed.

[boredone3456]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

Billie jean King and Owen Davidson won 9 slam titles. Billie Jean won 11 total. I take it form the silence no one would watch or has watched any of th mixed.

Many people don't watch same sex doubles....let alone mixed. I mean, some will watch the Bryans or the Williams, but doubles now seems like its a forgotten artform of tennis that most people don't even discuss until the finals of a slam. You rarely see threads discussing doubles and when you do they get maybe 1/20th the amount of talk singles threads do. Its sad but thats the way it seems to be now. Its not on tv much so people don't really pay attention.

But back to this...I think Court and Fletcher would be the team to beat. King and Davidson could probably give them a run, pair Martina with somebody and they could probably put up a fight as well depending on whom you put her with. But I think the fact that Court and Fletcher won the calender slam in mixed doubles in 1963 gives them a bit of an edge. They also won 6 straight together from the Australian in 1963-French in 1964. 10 of Courts 19 mixed slams were with Fletcher...just over half. King and Davidson would probably be the best bet to beat them, they beat Court and Riessen twice, and only lost 1 slam final as a team. But I think Court and Fletcher's numbers are slightly more impressive.

[pc1]

Originally Posted by BTURNER

Billie jean King and Owen Davidson won 9 slam titles. Billie Jean won 11 total. I take it form the silence no one would watch or has watched any of th mixed.

It's scary to me to think of it but I've seen BJ and Owen Davidson play but frankly it's been so long I really don't remember how good they were.

[jaggy]

Did McEnroe team up with Martina for Wimbledon then he pulled out to concentrate on singles? Its in my head but cant be sure, if so not a bad little combo.

[jrepac]

really, dubs is not watched all that much nowadays....limited TV airtime, which is a shame

how about Lloyd and Turnbull?

they were a pretty good pair

and, Martina + Anyone

[Don't Let It Bounce]

Originally Posted by jrepac

...and, Martina + Anyone

I don't know MxDbl history well enough to say, but yeah, the first question to pop into my mind was "Who was Navratilova's best partner?"

[boredone3456]

Originally Posted by Don't Let It Bounce

I don't know MxDbl history well enough to say, but yeah, the first question to pop into my mind was "Who was Navratilova's best partner?"

Martina didn't really have a steady mixed doubles Partner until Laender Paes in 2003. During the 80's and early to mid 90's she teamed with a variety of guys including Mark Woodforde, Heinz Gundhardt, Peter Fleming, Ivan Molina, Paul McNamee, Tim Gullickson and Johnathan Stark. I really don't know who her best mixed doubles partner was..based on results its probably Heinz Gundhardt...they won 2 slams together as a team...her and Woodforde don't seem to bad a combo either.

[DNShade]

Originally Posted by jaggy

Did McEnroe team up with Martina for Wimbledon then he pulled out to concentrate on singles? Its in my head but cant be sure, if so not a bad little combo.

Actually Mac played with Steffi at W after he had basically retired and they were kicking ***** - but then she pulled out in the semis or something to concentrate on her singles which miffed Mac - and then she lost in the finals with John doing the commentating and you could tell he was like, "Told you you should've kept playing with me." Kind of funny.

[JW10S]

An old cliche re: MXD is that 'The woman wins it and man loses it' meaning that usually the team with the stronger female player will win more times than not. Of course it is not true 100% of the time but if you look at some of the records it does seem to have some creedence. Ken Fletcher, Marty Reissen and Owen Davidson were not top male players but they teamed with top female players (Court, King) to win a bunch of titles. John Newcombe would be an exception. Navratilova could almost win with anyone in her prime. I've won a fair number of Open MXD titles and most of the time it was because my female partner was stronger than the opposing female. Only rarely did we win because I was the stronger male player.

[BTURNER]

So what did you specifically look for in a partner and was it much different ahtn what you looked for in men;s doubles. Was here a pschological aspect tha was different, any mental or personality qualities that were different?

[President of Serve/Volley]

Anyone with John McEnroe.

[Fedace]

Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka......

or JP Mcenroe + M Navratilova.

[AndrewD]

Margaret Court won the calendar year GRAND SLAM with Ken Fletcher.

She then won another calendar year GRAND SLAM with different partners.


So I think it's pretty bloody obvious that the best mixed doubles team would included Margaret Court.

Navratilova wouldn't be too far behind.

Further back would be Billie Jean King. A very good and successful mixed player but, unlike Court or Navratilova, she relied heavily on being paired with one player in particular (Davidson). Without him she wasn't anywhere near as good.

As for the men - and being a good mixed partner requires a specific personality and temperament - you can't go past Ken Fletcher and Owen Davidson with Marty Reissen a bit behind them.

Owen Davidson won the calendar year GRAND SLAM in 1967 playing with different partners. Ken Fletcher won the calendar year GRAND SLAM playing with Margaret Court.

[urban]

Court is obviously top choice. To put some older teams in, i think, Marble/Budge was a tremendous team, and Lenglen/Brugnon.

[Enlightened Coelacanth]

Originally Posted by JW10S

An old cliche re: MXD is that 'The woman wins it and man loses it' meaning that usually the team with the stronger female player will win more times than not. Of course it is not true 100% of the time but if you look at some of the records it does seem to have some creedence. Ken Fletcher, Marty Reissen and Owen Davidson were not top male players but they teamed with top female players (Court, King) to win a bunch of titles. John Newcombe would be an exception. Navratilova could almost win with anyone in her prime. I've won a fair number of Open MXD titles and most of the time it was because my female partner was stronger than the opposing female. Only rarely did we win because I was the stronger male player.

This is so.
The men are relied upon to put the ball away and women generally just keep the ball in play. So the woman who can win points with her own volleys, overheads, passes, etc. will likely be on the winning team.

Mixed doubles get even less coverage than doubles in general (which is virtually non existent) and pro tennis is devaluing doubles even more by monkeying with the game format.
This is too bad because the average fan can't identify with giant players that run like deers and hit the ball like a lumberjack swinging an axe.
Doubles still puts a premium on placement, precision and touch over raw overpowering physicality.

Perhaps a forum for all things doubles should have it's own place here.

[Datacipher]

Originally Posted by DNShade

Actually Mac played with Steffi at W after he had basically retired and they were kicking ***** - but then she pulled out in the semis or something to concentrate on her singles which miffed Mac - and then she lost in the finals with John doing the commentating and you could tell he was like, "Told you you should've kept playing with me." Kind of funny.

He was seriously ticked and came about as close as you can to saying it outright (in fact, he did, just not with the real anger he was probably feeling) as a commentator can. Apparently Graf has PROMISED him she would NOT pull something like that. I felt for Mac that time, yeah, singles has priority, but it wasn't a pro thing to do at all. Made far worse by her assurances she wouldn't do it. That was one of the moments where you could see that Steffi could be really cold/selfish at times.

It had to be far worse for Mac, knowing he could have played with somebody else, and, it's not like he was going to have a ton of chances at another slam, even if it was only mixed.