From  P250 Mixed padel tournaments will be open to everyone:  all classification limitations disappear . A decision endorsed by the French Tennis Federation, which marks a clear break with the lower categories (P25, P50, P100), logically framed by ranking thresholds.

This development raises a simple, but central question:  Is the complete opening of the mixed rankings a good or a bad thing? 

Why lift the restrictions on mixed use?

Mixed padel operates on a different principle than traditional tournaments. Less focused on strict rankings, the idea is to offer all players the opportunity to participate in a mixed event. The French Tennis Federation (FFT) emphasizes the spirit of the game, in a way, and hopes that clubs and players will exercise restraint.

From the players' perspective, the absence of a salary cap is advantageous:

  • the creation of new pairs, and perhaps even the chance to see players from the French top 50 on a P250?
  • a smoother, less administrative practice.

The risk of a sporting imbalance

But this opening is not without its questions.
The complete absence of limitations can lead to:

  • des  significant level differences 
  • paintings that are sometimes unbalanced,
  • a potential frustration for less experienced pairs, who are confronted too early with clearly superior opponents.

This is one of the points of concern raised by some padel players, who fear that the “open door” effect will mainly benefit already very competitive pairs.

 However, in practice, there is a strong chance that this lack of limitation will have only a very limited impact on tournaments.  The reason is simple: the most competitive players are generally entered in events that match their level.

These will therefore most often be very specific situations, where some will choose to participate in a mixed tournament with beginner friends or in a more family-oriented setting. As you will have understood,  We are very far here from the spirit of competition that characterizes the classic categories .

Franck Binisti

Franck Binisti discovered padel at the Club des Pyramides in 2009 in the Paris region. Since then, padel has been part of his life. You often see him touring France to cover major French padel events.

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