Following the tournaments of padel mixed lately, we were forced to come back to this subject which comes up in the clubs and with the players.

When will the tournaments padel mixed approved? Could the French Tennis Federation approve this type of tournament?

It's already possible

First, we do not have to wait for homologation of mixed tournaments to have fun and play in mixed.

Then, today, many clubs already offer mixed events with a financial endowment and prizes. Yes there are no points, but overall, the clubs and umpires are already managing to rank the pairs by weight of the teams.

Circuits have even democratized this type of tournament, starting with the circuit Padel Infinity or the National Padel Cup that it has automated in its stages and its final stages since 2014 ... Or the Coupe de France of padel Mixed organized in September Place du Capitole in Toulouse.

The few barriers

But, as we know, it is a subject which is not easy to set up, but could be proposed by the FFT in 2018 or 2019. In any case, it is thinking about this subject. We remember Patricia Froissart, the elected official responsible for the development of padel in France. which already explained during the French Championships of padel 2017 "appreciate this kind of competition and not be closed to this possibility of offering tournaments padel mixed type approved in the future".

What we saw at Casa Padel, a few days ago, nevertheless questioned us. How to ensure that top players do not play “too much”? And what can be done so that the “less good” can benefit from these mixed tournaments?

2 problems

Indeed, the best players play with the best players. This is how. So, we inevitably find ourselves with players involved in the last square of the classic tournaments and the last square of the mixed tournament. This poses 2 problems:

For the organization: we end up with matches that cannot be started because one of the 4 players is playing his mixed match. We saw him again at Casa Padel a few days ago. The matches are therefore postponed, players wait, etc ...

For the players: Some must "sell off" their mixed match, physically unable to bear playing on both sides. We understand of course. But for the organizers, this is not necessarily the right deal, because the price money remains the same ...

Imagine that in addition these tournaments can earn points for a national ranking ... It will not be easy for players and organizers.

In summary, on paper, everyone wants to see mixed tournaments of padel approved, but in reality, setting up these tournaments is not going to be easy. If the FFT adopts this possibility, it has its work cut out for it to find the right balance because it is far from obvious.

Franck Binisti - Padel Magazine

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovers the padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since padel is part of his life. You often see him touring France going to cover the major events of padel French.

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