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How to find a tennis or pickleball partner at your level

Tennis & pickleball · 5 min read · Updated August 2026

The hard part of amateur tennis and pickleball is almost never the tennis. It is finding somebody free at the same time, near the same court, at roughly your level, who will still be there next month.

Where players actually are

• Public courts at fixed times. Most parks have a regular crowd on the same mornings. Go twice and you will know who they are.
• Club ladders and box leagues. Level-matched, and the single most reliable source of repeat opponents.
• Local leagues. USTA leagues for tennis, and most areas now have organised pickleball equivalents.
• Apps and local groups, including this one. These reach the players your own circle does not.

Write a post people can say yes to

"Anyone want to hit?" gets ignored. A post gets answered when the reader can decide in five seconds:

• The sport, and singles or doubles.
• A specific court, or at least a specific area.
• A specific day and time, not "sometime this week".
• Your level, and the range above and below it you will play.
• Whether you want a match or a hit. They are different invitations, and whoever wanted the other one goes home disappointed.

Be honest about your level

Overstating your rating gets you exactly one game with each person. The player who beats you 6-0 enjoys it no more than you do, and will not answer your next post.

If you are unsure, rate yourself half a point lower than your instinct and let the results correct you. The NTRP and DUPR guides here go through the levels in detail.

Turn one game into a regular game

Most people find a partner and then lose them, because nobody suggests the next one.

• Fix the next session before you leave the court. It takes ten seconds and it is the whole trick.
• Record the score. A run of results gives you both a reason to come back.
• Collect three or four regulars rather than one. People go on holiday and get injured, and one partner is a fragile arrangement.

How this site handles it

You post a game with a court, a time and a level range, and players near you can ask to join. Accept one and that shares contact details and locks the game in. Afterwards either of you records the score and the other confirms it, which is what moves your rating on the leaderboard.

Browsing courts and players is free, and you can see who plays where without an account.

Search for somebody by name or by @username. Everywhere public, on scoreboards, in events and in search results, players appear by their @username. Their real name shows only to their friends, so add somebody as a friend once you have played and you will see who they are.

Common questions

How far should I be willing to travel?

Twenty minutes is usually the limit for a weekly game. Anything more and the habit tends not to survive the winter.

What if there is nobody at my level nearby?

Play up. Half a level above you is the best game available, and a set against a stronger player teaches you more than a comfortable win.

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