How to find a tennis partner: 5 ways (and the one that works)

You feel like playing but have no one to play with. Sound familiar?

You are at a new club in your city and you do not know anyone. You changed jobs, you have been in the area for a few weeks, and the only racket you see is yours on the nightstand. Or maybe you came back to the game after years away and your old partners have dropped off the radar, some have kids, some moved two thousand kilometres away, some simply quit.

Tennis is a simple sport: two people are enough. And yet finding that second person, at your level, in your area, free when you are, is one of the most underrated problems in Italian amateur sport.

Italy has roughly 4 million tennis players according to CONI data. And yet 90% of those who try to play with someone new end up in noisy WhatsApp chats, abandoned Facebook groups, or word of mouth that works one time in ten.

In this guide I walk you through 5 concrete ways to find a tennis partner. No fluff. Honest about what works and what does not. And yes, at the end I also tell you about PlaySportMate, but only after laying out the other options, because the best way to talk about a product is to tell you when you do not need it.

Why finding a tennis partner is so hard

Before looking at the ways, it helps to understand why the problem exists. Knowing the right problem is already half the solution.

Noisy WhatsApp groups

Every club, every group of friends, every neighbourhood has its group. "Tennis Roma Nord", "Padelmania Vomero", "Five-a-side Thursday night". They work up to 15-20 people. Above that number the signal gets lost in the noise: 200 messages a day, no search by level, no filter by availability.

Scattered social networks

Instagram and Facebook are good for many things but not this. You post a story "Looking for a tennis partner in Milan tonight" and three people see it. One is on holiday. One plays at a different level. One is you, who posted by mistake.

Fragmented sites with no standard

There are sports listing boards, local Telegram groups, old forums. None of them aggregates the information in a structured way by sport + area + level + time availability.

Level mismatch = failed matches

Even if you find someone, there is a huge risk: the level. A beginner playing an amateur competitor gets frustrated. An advanced player playing a beginner gets bored. Without a clear system to declare your level, every match is a lottery.

And this brings us to the 5 ways that actually work.

The 5 ways to find a tennis partner

1. Ask your club

Pro: it is the most obvious way. The tennis club already has a member list, often a digital board or an internal app, and maybe a manager who connects you with someone at your level.

Con: it only works if you are already a club member. If you have just moved cities or you want to play in public spaces (parks with free courts, gyms with hourly bookable courts), this route is closed. And even inside a club, the pool is limited to members: 50-200 people typically, many with incompatible schedules.

When it works: if you are a member of an active club and have the patience to try 3-4 partners before finding the right one.

2. Local WhatsApp and Telegram groups

Pro:if you find the right group, the information is real time. "Tonight looking for a partner for a match in Posillipo, 7pm" can get a reply in 10 minutes.

Con: it takes 6-12 months to be accepted into an active group, learn the dynamics, figure out who plays at what level. Without a level filter, you have to play with different people until you understand who is worth going back to. Time-consuming.

When it works: if you have lived in the same city for years and already have an established sports network.

3. Social networks (Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn)

Pro: wide potential reach. If you have an active personal profile, a story or a post is enough.

Con: very low conversion rate. Out of 1000 followers, maybe 5 see the post within 4 hours, 1 plays tennis at your level, 0 are free when you are. On top of that, writing an ad-style post every time is socially awkward. LinkedIn has a few amateur sport groups but it is still niche.

When it works: almost never for a single match. It works better to find the community (for example amateur sport events promoted on IG).

4. Amateur tournaments

Pro: in a tournament you meet 7-15 people who play at your level (or close), in your area, already filtered by the registration system. It is the most efficient setting to meet long-term partners.

Con:it does not solve the "tonight I need a partner" problem. Tournaments are recurring events but not daily ones. And they require paying an entry fee plus calendar planning.

When it works: if you want to build a stable network of partners over the medium term. Long-game strategy.

On PlaySportMate you can browse the active tennis tournaments filtering by city, amateur tournaments with simple registration, where you can meet people who will keep playing with you afterwards.

5. PlaySportMate

Here we are. I promised honesty, so I will tell it like it is.

PlaySportMate is an Italian sports community that is free forever and puts people at the centre, not courts. The difference is sharp: there are many ways to book a court. There are very few ways to find the right person to use it with.

On PSM:

• You create a free profile (in 2 minutes)
• You declare sport, level, area, available days and time slots
• You find tennis partners filtered by your criteria
• You chat inside the platform, organise the match, book the court
• No commissions. No subscription. No premium. Ever.

PSM supports 150+ sports, not just tennis. So if tomorrow you decide to try running or basketball too, the same profile works.

When it works: always, it is designed for this. It works best if you live in medium-to-large cities (Naples, Milan, Rome, Turin, Florence in our initial baseline, but 150 IT cities supported), and it works from day one if you complete the full profile.

When it does not work well yet: if you live in a village of 2000 people where the PSM community is still being built. In those cases, it is worth combining PSM with methods 1-4 above.

How to choose a partner at your level

Finding the person is only half the work. The other half is not failing at the first match.

Amateur levels (simplified)

The first-session rule

The first session with a new partner is exploratory, not competitive. No score pressure. Goal: figure out whether you are compatible in level, rhythm, energy.

If after the first session both of you feel good, book the second.

If one of you is frustrated or bored, it is okay to say "we are not compatible in level, but if you know someone…". Honesty now avoids ghosting later.

Tip: filter by "same level" on PSM

On PlaySportMate you can filter the athlete search by declared level. That means even before the first contact you know the person is (self-declared) in your range. It greatly reduces the number of first-meeting "mismatches".

Amateur tennis etiquette

It applies to any sport, but in tennis more than elsewhere. Three simple rules:

1. Punctuality. The court is booked in 60 or 90 minute slots. Arriving late means stealing time from your partner. Be on court 5 minutes early.
2. Respect your declared level.If you declare intermediate and then play like an advanced player (so called "sandbagging"), you lose credibility in the community and the next invite does not come.
3. Cancel with notice. If you have to cancel, do it at least 24 hours ahead. Later than that = you lose respect and possibly the court money too. Communicate via PSM chat or the agreed channel.

Frequently asked questions

In short

Finding a tennis partner in Italy in 2026 is easier than it seems, if you know where to look.

The fastest way today is still PlaySportMate: profile in 2 minutes, filters by level and area, and it works from day one in the main cities.

But the absolute best way is to combine more than one. Create a PSM profile, join your club, take part in the first amateur tournament of the season. A network is built that way, across several channels at once.

And remember: you are not the only one looking. There are millions of Italian amateur athletes in your exact situation. The first step is to declare yourself available.

Questions? Write to us at [email protected]. Stefano replies in person, a founder's promise.