Mixed Doubles in 2012 Olympic Tennis Event at Wimbledon
When the tennis world descends upon the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club aka Wimbledon for the tennis competition at the 2012 London Olympics, there will be Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded to mixed doubles teams. The sixteen-team mixed doubles competition will be played on grass at Wimbledon. It’s exciting news!
There is a history of mixed doubles in the Olympic Games. From 1900-1924, mixed doubles was played at several Olympic Games. Americans, Richard Williams and Hazel Wightman, were the last Gold Medalists at the Games in Paris in 1924. Tennis did not return to the Olympic Games as a medal event for singles and doubles until Seoul, Korea in 1988 where Steffi Graf completed her “Golden Slam” and Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia won the Gold medal for men's singles.
The top players rarely play mixed doubles, but perhaps a couple will indulge given that it is the Olympics and tennis fans definitely show up in droves when/if the top players play doubles. After losing before the medal round in singles, Roger Federer even played all the way to a Gold Medal in men’s doubles in Beijing! In 2012, there will be some tantalizing possibilities for mixed doubles teams. For example, Andy Roddick and Serena or Venus Williams or perhaps Marat Safin will come out retirement and partner his sister, Dinara Safina or Roger Federer and his wife and former Tour player, Mirka Vavrinec, will team up in the Olympics! Mixed doubles in the Olympics offers yet another opportunity for tennis to broaden its appeal to general sports fans attending the Olympic Games.
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