Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - MIXED DOUBLES

steven · Tennis legend

Weeks 27 & 28 - The Championships, Wimbledon (grass) - MIXED DOUBLES

Mark1968 · Intermediate Club Player

Coup Droit wrote:
the question is, Mark1968, did Marcus act any differently when he/they won in the previous round?

i.e. you say that you think Carty's antics detracted from his game, and made it difficult for him to win (and I didn't see any of it) but as I remember, he was like that in the previous match - lot of pointing, lots of grandstanding

Now, personally, I'm with SuperT, I enjoy it - mixed dubs is just a mess-around, as far as I'm concerned, and the more light-hearted it is, the better

But even taking it more seriously, if he has the same manner whenever, and sometimes he wins matches they're not expected to win and sometimes - obviously - he loses, it's hard to say it's the fault of the antics? Maybe they made him win the round before?

CD, you often come across as being someone who sees what he want's to see rather than actually what is happening. I say this here because Carty's antics were nowhere near so prevalent in the previous round, which I believe they won because they played properly. In fact I really enjoyed that match but the tom foolery in the QF was off the scale hence the timing of my post.

Another poster has commented on Alicia being the weakest player and I wonder if all the attention Marcus was drawing to them put added pressure on her.

I struggle to understand how anybody, and I concede you are far from alone CD, can think an event in a grand slam can be seen as a bit of a giggle etc and nobody will ever convince me otherwise. I took great pleasure at the on court relationship that Heather and Henri had in 2016, loads of smiles etc but they played seriously in between and that's the perfect balance. I just think the comedy should be left to the seniors.

Mark1968 · Intermediate Club Player

steven wrote:
I was at the match yesterday and I could see how it might have helped them win previous matches - and after all, they did well to get as far as they did. It certainly made the match a lot more fun for the crowd and Marcus succeeded in getting people to make a lot more noise than they normally would, which was very refreshing.

They lost because Gonzalez and Olmos are an extremely good doubles pair and because Lissey had a bit of a nightmare in a couple of key service games. While you could argue that all the pointing after Alicia won points got a bit too much (to the extent that it could look a bit patronising at times), Lissey seemed to appreciate it most of the time and I'm convinced it all came from a good place, i.e. he was trying to keep up her morale at the times she was finding it toughest, and doing his best to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves.

There were a couple of times when Marcus's instinct to showboat got the better of him - in particular when Gonzalez executed a very good tweener and then Marcus failed to resist the temptation to reply with one of his own, but I have no doubt that the Brits were trying extremely hard to win and definitely not treating it as just an exhibition.

I forgot about the tweener, I was annoyed at that and the commentators weren't impressed either because he had tried to copy the professional. Even though Marcus does not appear to have a bad bone in his body I agree that the pointing could come across as patronising whilst not intended that way.

9vicman · Pro player

It was definite showman behaviour, and not to everyone's taste. But they won a couple of matches and entertained the crowd. And certainly outperformed their rankings. Alicia has had such a rough patch of form, so was nice to see her success.

indiana · Tennis legend

It does kind of sound just the run of mixed doubles matches and atmosphere that Lissey could probably do with at this time.

Not watched any mixed this year though have at times quite enjoyed watching it in the past.

And I am another who certainly doesn't take it that seriously Slam or no Slam, especially given some of the players themselves don't take it that seriously ( even if no doubt many of the leading doubles players do take it very seriously other than still a bit of male vs female etiquette? ).

Whatever, I have no problem with tennis featuring mixed in its own Slams, however it is treated.

I still though do have major problems with it featuring in the Olympics on a turn up, pick a partner basis when most Olympians strive for a lifetime and in team events err actually play them regularly as a team. I know some would not have tennis at all in the Olympics but at least I can take the singles and other doubles as proper trained for competitive events.