What NTRP rating combinations works best in Mixed? More Interesting Tennis League Stats

I wrote yesterday about what ratings combinations work best for 55 & Over Adult play, today, I thought I'd start a refresh of the ratings combination analysis for Mixed I did around 8 years ago.

To start, I'll look at 18 & Over Mixed.  For reference, here is the post I did 8 years ago for the same division.

This time I will include 6.0 and 10.0 levels I omitted last time.  For each pairing I list, the first number will be the male level and the second the female level.

Starting with 6.0:

• 3.5/2.5 pairs beat 3.0/3.0 pairs 52.7% of the time
• 2.5/3.5 pairs beat 3.0/3.0 pairs 49.6% of the time
• 3.5/2.5 pairs beat 2.5/3.5 pairs 56.2% of the time

Here, a slight to significant advantage to unbalanced when the male is the higher rated player.  The 2.5/3.5 is ever so slightly below 50%.

Next up, 7.0:

• 4.0/3.0 pairs beat 3.5/3.5 pairs 58.3% of the time
• 3.0/4.0 pairs beat 3.5/3.5 pairs 50.8% of the time
• 4.0/3.0 pairs beat 3.0/4.0 pairs 55.1% of the time

This is similar to before (60%, 52%, 57%) so that form continues to hold.  Unbalanced with the higher rated male has the advantage, but unbalanced with the higher rated female has a slight advantage too.

Next up, 8.0:

• 4.5/3.5 pairs beat 4.0/4.0 pairs 57.6% of the time
• 3.5/4.5 pairs beat 4.0/4.0 pairs 53.5% of the time
• 4.5/3.5 pairs beat 3.5/4.5 pairs 51.7% of the time

This is a bit different from last time (61%, 51%, 60%) with the unbalanced 3.5/4.5 pairs doing better than before.  Still, unbalanced has the advantage over balanced and unbalanced with the higher rated male stronger overall.

And 9.0:

• 5.0/4.0 pairs beat 4.5/4.5 pairs 59.6% of the time
• 4.0/5.0 pairs beat 4.5/4.5 pairs 56.1% of the time
• 5.0/4.0 pairs beat 4.0/5.0 pairs 58.5% of the time

This compares with 57%, 58%, 51% last time, so a bit different, but the trend holds.  Unbalanced with more frequently, and the unbalanced with the higher rated male do so over the higher rated female.

Last, 10.0:

• 5.5/4.5 pairs beat 5.0/5.0 pairs 27.0% of the time
• 4.5/5.5 pairs beat 5.0/5.0 pairs 62.9% of the time
• 5.5/4.5 pairs beat 4.5/5.5 pairs 66.7% of the time

Note there is so little play at this level that some of the totals for these match-ups are in the single digits so make of that what you will.

Aside from a couple anomalies at the 6.0 and 10.0 levels, the trend continues.  Unbalanced pairs win more often in Mixed.  The advantage is not huge, most of these winning percentages are between 50% and 60%, but it is consistent.

What do you think?  Is this consistent with what you see locally?