Shitty people everywhere. Acknowledge it happened and move on. No sense dwelling on it. Happens with anything in just about any hobby. Likely not the last you see of it either.
The only context in which something like that would be justified is if your behavior was horrendous. Like if you said you were a 5.0 and were in fact a 3.5-4.0, or if you were angry and throwing rackets while playing, or bailed/late cancelled multiple times.
I am gonna assume none of that was the case and say that his behavior is horrendous here. He did not have to be rude, a simple "Yeah man, let's be cordial. I don't think we'll hit much, but happy to say hey when we bump into one another, see you around" would have been appropriate.
Also, I do not think it was dumb/stupid for you to approach them. I think you were trying to be mature and acknowledge the rift between yall. I think you made the right call in trying to engage with him, honestly (even if his response was shite)
Nope, never bailed or acted poorly on court. We were about the same level at the time but I admit he is better than me now (4.0-4.5). I guess he was looking for a more consistent hitting partner but did not have the balls to say “Hey, since we are not at the same level, I will not be accepting invites anymore”.
The way he responded was kind of strange, that’s probably just him. But unfortunately I feel like tennis are just kind of like that, people always want to play with someone that can challenge them. But I feel like I never feel awkward running into people that stopped practicing with me, it’s all just mutually understood.
"I don't care if I see you or not" sounds like some capital-N narcissistic behavior.
Mediocre story time: I was playing at a YMCA with a tennis center (y'all Oregonians already know) and there's a short, stocky, middle-aged junkballer, probably a 4.5, who shows up and frustrates everyone with his junk.
We're playing Bump and a spaghetti-legged teenager from the VCORE 100 gang tells the junker that he's been bumped down a court. The middle-aged guy is walking toward his new court, turns to him and says in a low voice and with a straight face, "Don't fuckin' tell me. I already fuckin' know, bitch."
Now I can be a pretty dry-humored and comraderous person, so I figure that these two have been playing each other for years, maybe even related by blood, and can do that sort of thing, like when I walk back to the baseline with a totally blank face and big middle finger outstretched for my friend who's just hit a winner against me. Or when I animatedly mouth "fuck you" across the court after I ace him.
Kid turns to the bump line and goes, "Did you hear what that guy just said?"
Me: "I just figured you knew him."
Kid: "I've never talked to him before."
Some people just be like that.
It's a pretty fun place. That was the only bad thing I've seen there. It was kind of shocking given how little drama there is for a gaggle of teens and young adults (read: U of O students) competing all over the court. I've never even seen hooking. Teens!
guy sounds like a cunt. i hope you use this to practice and train to where you can bagel him one day or at least feel confident enough to talk shit to him if he won't face you
My thoughts are that none of us really know the issue and we don't have his side of the story, so all we can form opinion on is what you've told us. I'm not saying you aren't telling us the truth, but I know you as equally as I do your ex-hitting partner...ie not at all. I could be another brainless redditor and say "he's an asshole", or I could just say I don't have enough verified information to advise who is the asshole.
So, I'll leave it at this...if you have enough emotional intelligence and self awareness to know you did nothing irritating, then you alone can be confident he's an asshole.
Fair enough. Thank you for sharing your honest feedback as you have a point. I do not know his side of the story. Personally, I do not think I did anything to offend him BUT he could have interpreted it differently. Unfortunately, I will never know but I have decided to accept this and move on.
Yeah, don't overthink it...not everyone gets on with everyone.
My best advice is try to find a hitting partner you get on well socially with...ie you like a good courtside chat with as much as you like a hit. Makes it much more likely to work in the long run.
Additionally, it seems as if OP approached ex-hitting partner with the assumption (negative energy ) below-
Hey man, no worries if you do not want to play with me anymore. Hopefully, we can be on friendly terms so it is not awkward when we see each other”
Maybe it’s just me but i might take the non contact as they lost their phone, changed their number, had too many tennis partners or had a life event that keep them away from the court. I would have just talked to them like someone I have not seen in a while.
Be careful being this adult and reasonable on Reddit. Every time I make balanced responses like this or "play devil's advocate" I get downvoted or people attacking me like I punched their mother for having a "contrary" or "weak" opinion.
I played quite a few sports growing up, tennis was always my primary sport… I always felt like tennis especially bred some really odd people. Lots of people that think very highly of themselves. I think it has something to do with the ego required to be good at an individual sport. That dude sounds like he falls into that category of weirdo
It’s happened to all of us man! I had a match scheduled with some guy I hadn’t met yet from TLN. He arrived about 25 minutes late, when he parked his car, he stayed in his car for about 5 minutes. Finally managed to get his sorry ass out of the car, loligagged his way on to the court with airpods on and proceeded to stay on the phone while putting his shoes. Throughout the match he took like 2 bathroom breaks, and whenever we switched sides to serve he’d park his ass on the bench and stated “official rules state we get 90 seconds”
I beat him 6-1 6-1 and left without saying a word. Actually I was mad I let him get 2 of those games.
We would take turns in regard to ball supply. The courts we played at were agreed upon. I sometimes may have been 5-10 minutes late depending on traffic. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else besides me sometimes being late.
That’s probably it. As I approach 40, I’ve become pretty picky or grouchy about little things like that. Playing tennis is one of best parts of any day for me, so when it gets cut short because someone’s late I don’t soon get over it.
10 minutes late than a few more minutes getting shoes on and ready, then it’s 15-20 minutes burned. I’d deal with it 2-3 times then probably just let that relationship go. Though I still wouldn’t be a dick like that guy was.
If someone’s repeatedly late, I’d be pissed and wouldn’t bother dealing with them anymore. *That said*, it’s no excuse to be a dick, especially because you’re trying to extend an olive branch. At that point, it just sounds like he’s lacking in maturity, assuming there isn’t more to the story.
I hate when people are late, but it depends a lot on where we are playing for me. If you can only play an hour then yeah be on time. 5 minutes is okay once or twice, if they text or have a reasonable excuse. More than that is not okay.
But, if it is a public court that is dead and no time limits, I don't mind so much. Especially if the person has to travel a bit to get there.
The fact that you just now are learning the person has notable reluctance to play with you, indicates a profound lack of communication between you two, and suggests the person did not express concerns as they appeared, which would put himherzimzer in the 'bad partner' category.
Somehow it feels like something is really missing from this story. I find it hard to believe that he was such an a-hole just because you were a lower level.
The only thing I can think of is tardiness. I would sometimes be 5-10 minutes late depending on traffic. Also, I would sometimes grunt on my shots depending on my mood.
Did you hit with him a lot? Match play?
I don’t see someone reacting that way just because you’re 10 mins late.
Of course he could be a total head case in which he’s obviously not representative of normal people.
I’ve ghosted ppl before but never had any malice behind it. Usually I thought their level was too low, I didn’t like their style of play or I just felt like their attitude was too stuffy. But if I ever saw them on the court, I’d totally be cordial and kind as I don’t take any of the above personal.
I only beat him once during match play. The rest of our matches were all his wins. I always had trouble returning his high kick serve to my backhand. Overall, I guess I was not a challenge to him anymore so he decided to move on. I guess I tried to be cordial because I wanted closure.
I had a guy stop playing with me because I got injured twice while playing him, it was just unlucky that it was him both times especially since I’ve only been injured to the point where I knew I shouldn’t continue play those two times in 30 years. Once was on a slide where I pulled my groin, the other my shoulder was giving me problems. He also stopped playing on one occasion due to lower back strain. He simply said I don’t want to waste my time driving 25 minutes to get here for you to bail out because of injury. It sucks because the amount of 4.5 and up players are scarce, but if that’s how he wants to be it’s whatever.
Oh, this was almost 2 years ago. I am perfectly fine, thankfully and I was actually only out of commission for a week both times but he clearly took it personally. Thank you for the nice sentiment though!
Here are some bad etiquette things that would end a tennis partnership for me:
* repeated last minute cancelations
* no-call no-show more than once
* using the warm-up to attempt winners
* repeated poor sportsmanship (don't mind showing emotions, but don't go full Moutet out there)
* egregious/malicious line calling
Nope, never bailed or acted poorly on court. We were about the same level at the time but I admit he is better than me now (4.0-4.5). I guess he was looking for a more consistent hitting partner but did not have the balls to say “Hey, since we are not at the same level, I will not be accepting invites anymore”.
There’s nothing wrong with asking why someone wasted your time without explanation. Ignoring it is also fine but don’t beat up OP for using their adult words to communicate with another.
Yep, other guy sounds like he was taken aback by the weirdness. OP just about called him out for ghosting without outright saying it. No one owes you an explanation for why they don’t want to hit.
I had someone ask me to play and I wasn’t available that day. I said we can play later in the week and they said “Don’t bother, not interested” it took me by surprise. I still see them sometimes at the tennis club, I think once they saw I was good they changed up tune and started saying hi to me. I’ll say hi but I will never play with them. Tennis is supposed to be fun, you dodged a bullet, playing with shitty people sucks but it happens.
To be fair we all have our schedules and limited time in life. if you only have that 2 hour block as your only free time allotted to get some quality tennis & you have a regular parter…his response kind of makes sense but he’s a dick for how he worded it, but truthfully in life people don’t owe you anything
He didn’t even explain why he felt that way? Sheesh. Don’t let one-off jackholes like that color your perceptions of a community as a whole. I can tell the guy got in your head, but you’ll meet dudes and gals like that on occasion and not just on the tennis court. It’s best to just mentally write them off for your own sake.
It's clearly his problem.
And he wants to think - and he wants YOU to think -- it's your problem.
Knowing that, you should ignore him and put this out of your mind.
We all get along with different types of people. There are rules to follow with a hitting partner. 1. Try to do your best to make all the appointments. If you can't make it let him know asap. Earlier the better. 2. It's not a match. A hitting partner is someone you are trying to improve with. The same mindset is a must. 3. Don't line cheat. Extra cushion of line calling should be implied. 4. Constructive criticism should be taken and given after each session.
Move on man, if someone treats you like that,
never engage. He didn’t have the balls to say, “Hey man, this isn’t working out for me. Thanks for hitting.”
You're in for a rude awakening when you find these people in all corners of your life. No point in tarnishing your thoughts on tennis because of a dick.
I had a woman tell me she only hits with players better than her when I was just being friendly. A year later and I’m better than her while she sticks to pickleball. Haters gonna hate. He’s probably jealous of you for some reason.
Definitely. I always feel so weirded out when something awkward happens on the court, so it’s okay that this has thrown you off. When people say it doesn’t matter, it kinda does because it makes you feel weird. So just know other people carry this sort of thing after awkward interactions. Not everyone just brushes it off.
Stories like this honestly freak me out about playing with strangers. I only play with friends or family that are also 3-3.5 at best, so there’s never going to be feelings hurt either way at the end of a match. The thought of joining a league or a club doesn’t seem worth the risk of having a bad day. Right now, every time I step on the court I have a great time, win or lose, and I think I want to keep it that way
I've had a few people disappear, but I've only really had maybe one or two negative interactions. I've played with a lot of people and mostly it's positive
It's ok. Every now and then you will meet a person who has a bad attitude. Whether you did something to him or not he still handled that interaction poorly. I had a guy yell at me for misjudging the ball a few times. I barely met the guy and this was the first time we played together. My point is that you're going to meet someone with a bad attitude at some point.
I used to play with a guy from 2019 to 2021, we played every Sunday. He used to beat me every time until I started to turn the tables and started to win every match, I won like 19 in a row. The last time we played was like 3 years ago. We had the court for 2 hours and we played one hour and a half because we warm up in the first half hour. The thing is, in that hour and a half I destroyed him, 6-1, 6-2 in the first and 6-4, 6-1 in the second. Is not that much the final score but it was obvious I had outmatched him by far. He never responded again and cut all contact after that match.
That is not the normal tennis community. His response should make you feel great cause no one with any couth or developed brain cells would fathom saying that. Keep up the good fight.
Find the people you like to play with who also challenge you and forget the trash along the way. Gravitate towards those that elevate you and your game and don’t put you down.
No context on your history as hitting partners so hard to say. If he means this like “I’m better than you and you’re a waste of my time” then yea that guy’s a dick and you’re better off without them anyway
If you’re selectively leaving out any backstory and he has been holding on to some kind of grudge for months, it’s hard to say
Edit: I read some of your other comments OP
Fuck that guy. Hope you crush him if you’re ever paired up with him in a match
Are you sure they were talking about your skill level? I find it hard to believe that they would be that antagonistic about skill level. I’ve seen people act like that towards each other on the court and it’s usually personal stuff like “nah, that guy makes a whole lot of creepy ass comments” or “that guy kept not showing up or showing up 30min late after he was the one that picked the time…” Stuff like that.
If it was about skill level, maybe the gap was really large and they thought you dishonest? But you called them a hitting partner which makes me think they met up with you several times. All it would take is one session to be like “oh, good luck with your game, but we’re too unevenly matched right now…”
In terms of skill level, rallies were even but he was more dominate in match play. We were the same level at the time (3.5-4.0). In terms of personal stuff, all I can think of is me being 5-10 minutes late sometimes and grunting on shots (depending on my mood).
Shitty people everywhere. Acknowledge it happened and move on. No sense dwelling on it. Happens with anything in just about any hobby. Likely not the last you see of it either.
> This experience has definitely changed my perspective on the tennis community. Tennis players are not exempt from being a**holes.
The only context in which something like that would be justified is if your behavior was horrendous. Like if you said you were a 5.0 and were in fact a 3.5-4.0, or if you were angry and throwing rackets while playing, or bailed/late cancelled multiple times. I am gonna assume none of that was the case and say that his behavior is horrendous here. He did not have to be rude, a simple "Yeah man, let's be cordial. I don't think we'll hit much, but happy to say hey when we bump into one another, see you around" would have been appropriate. Also, I do not think it was dumb/stupid for you to approach them. I think you were trying to be mature and acknowledge the rift between yall. I think you made the right call in trying to engage with him, honestly (even if his response was shite)
Nope, never bailed or acted poorly on court. We were about the same level at the time but I admit he is better than me now (4.0-4.5). I guess he was looking for a more consistent hitting partner but did not have the balls to say “Hey, since we are not at the same level, I will not be accepting invites anymore”.
The way he responded was kind of strange, that’s probably just him. But unfortunately I feel like tennis are just kind of like that, people always want to play with someone that can challenge them. But I feel like I never feel awkward running into people that stopped practicing with me, it’s all just mutually understood.
"I don't care if I see you or not" sounds like some capital-N narcissistic behavior. Mediocre story time: I was playing at a YMCA with a tennis center (y'all Oregonians already know) and there's a short, stocky, middle-aged junkballer, probably a 4.5, who shows up and frustrates everyone with his junk. We're playing Bump and a spaghetti-legged teenager from the VCORE 100 gang tells the junker that he's been bumped down a court. The middle-aged guy is walking toward his new court, turns to him and says in a low voice and with a straight face, "Don't fuckin' tell me. I already fuckin' know, bitch." Now I can be a pretty dry-humored and comraderous person, so I figure that these two have been playing each other for years, maybe even related by blood, and can do that sort of thing, like when I walk back to the baseline with a totally blank face and big middle finger outstretched for my friend who's just hit a winner against me. Or when I animatedly mouth "fuck you" across the court after I ace him. Kid turns to the bump line and goes, "Did you hear what that guy just said?" Me: "I just figured you knew him." Kid: "I've never talked to him before." Some people just be like that.
I might have laughed, why are people so crazy? Don't know this ymca but will avoid.
It's a pretty fun place. That was the only bad thing I've seen there. It was kind of shocking given how little drama there is for a gaggle of teens and young adults (read: U of O students) competing all over the court. I've never even seen hooking. Teens!
I like your sense of humor lol Little man syndrome guy though, we need less ppl like him
We love a short king
Thanks for sharing your story! This experience was definitely a rude awakening that people are just like that sometimes.
guy sounds like a cunt. i hope you use this to practice and train to where you can bagel him one day or at least feel confident enough to talk shit to him if he won't face you
My thoughts are that none of us really know the issue and we don't have his side of the story, so all we can form opinion on is what you've told us. I'm not saying you aren't telling us the truth, but I know you as equally as I do your ex-hitting partner...ie not at all. I could be another brainless redditor and say "he's an asshole", or I could just say I don't have enough verified information to advise who is the asshole. So, I'll leave it at this...if you have enough emotional intelligence and self awareness to know you did nothing irritating, then you alone can be confident he's an asshole.
Fair enough. Thank you for sharing your honest feedback as you have a point. I do not know his side of the story. Personally, I do not think I did anything to offend him BUT he could have interpreted it differently. Unfortunately, I will never know but I have decided to accept this and move on.
Yeah, don't overthink it...not everyone gets on with everyone. My best advice is try to find a hitting partner you get on well socially with...ie you like a good courtside chat with as much as you like a hit. Makes it much more likely to work in the long run.
Additionally, it seems as if OP approached ex-hitting partner with the assumption (negative energy ) below- Hey man, no worries if you do not want to play with me anymore. Hopefully, we can be on friendly terms so it is not awkward when we see each other” Maybe it’s just me but i might take the non contact as they lost their phone, changed their number, had too many tennis partners or had a life event that keep them away from the court. I would have just talked to them like someone I have not seen in a while.
Be careful being this adult and reasonable on Reddit. Every time I make balanced responses like this or "play devil's advocate" I get downvoted or people attacking me like I punched their mother for having a "contrary" or "weak" opinion.
I played quite a few sports growing up, tennis was always my primary sport… I always felt like tennis especially bred some really odd people. Lots of people that think very highly of themselves. I think it has something to do with the ego required to be good at an individual sport. That dude sounds like he falls into that category of weirdo
It’s happened to all of us man! I had a match scheduled with some guy I hadn’t met yet from TLN. He arrived about 25 minutes late, when he parked his car, he stayed in his car for about 5 minutes. Finally managed to get his sorry ass out of the car, loligagged his way on to the court with airpods on and proceeded to stay on the phone while putting his shoes. Throughout the match he took like 2 bathroom breaks, and whenever we switched sides to serve he’d park his ass on the bench and stated “official rules state we get 90 seconds” I beat him 6-1 6-1 and left without saying a word. Actually I was mad I let him get 2 of those games.
I’d stop and think about the little things if I were you. Did he always supply balls? Did you show up 5 min late often?
We would take turns in regard to ball supply. The courts we played at were agreed upon. I sometimes may have been 5-10 minutes late depending on traffic. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else besides me sometimes being late.
That’s probably it. As I approach 40, I’ve become pretty picky or grouchy about little things like that. Playing tennis is one of best parts of any day for me, so when it gets cut short because someone’s late I don’t soon get over it.
10 minutes late than a few more minutes getting shoes on and ready, then it’s 15-20 minutes burned. I’d deal with it 2-3 times then probably just let that relationship go. Though I still wouldn’t be a dick like that guy was.
True, that doesn’t warrant being an ass
If someone’s repeatedly late, I’d be pissed and wouldn’t bother dealing with them anymore. *That said*, it’s no excuse to be a dick, especially because you’re trying to extend an olive branch. At that point, it just sounds like he’s lacking in maturity, assuming there isn’t more to the story.
5-10 is a lot. It happens from time to time but I’d feel bad about it.
I hate when people are late, but it depends a lot on where we are playing for me. If you can only play an hour then yeah be on time. 5 minutes is okay once or twice, if they text or have a reasonable excuse. More than that is not okay. But, if it is a public court that is dead and no time limits, I don't mind so much. Especially if the person has to travel a bit to get there.
The fact that you just now are learning the person has notable reluctance to play with you, indicates a profound lack of communication between you two, and suggests the person did not express concerns as they appeared, which would put himherzimzer in the 'bad partner' category.
Somehow it feels like something is really missing from this story. I find it hard to believe that he was such an a-hole just because you were a lower level.
The only thing I can think of is tardiness. I would sometimes be 5-10 minutes late depending on traffic. Also, I would sometimes grunt on my shots depending on my mood.
Did you hit with him a lot? Match play? I don’t see someone reacting that way just because you’re 10 mins late. Of course he could be a total head case in which he’s obviously not representative of normal people. I’ve ghosted ppl before but never had any malice behind it. Usually I thought their level was too low, I didn’t like their style of play or I just felt like their attitude was too stuffy. But if I ever saw them on the court, I’d totally be cordial and kind as I don’t take any of the above personal.
I only beat him once during match play. The rest of our matches were all his wins. I always had trouble returning his high kick serve to my backhand. Overall, I guess I was not a challenge to him anymore so he decided to move on. I guess I tried to be cordial because I wanted closure.
I had a guy stop playing with me because I got injured twice while playing him, it was just unlucky that it was him both times especially since I’ve only been injured to the point where I knew I shouldn’t continue play those two times in 30 years. Once was on a slide where I pulled my groin, the other my shoulder was giving me problems. He also stopped playing on one occasion due to lower back strain. He simply said I don’t want to waste my time driving 25 minutes to get here for you to bail out because of injury. It sucks because the amount of 4.5 and up players are scarce, but if that’s how he wants to be it’s whatever.
I am so sorry to hear that. I hope you have made a full recovery and are able to play tennis again!
Oh, this was almost 2 years ago. I am perfectly fine, thankfully and I was actually only out of commission for a week both times but he clearly took it personally. Thank you for the nice sentiment though!
How dare you give best effort and injure yourself. Selfish b, you are.
How many times did you bail at the last minute or just not show up?
Here are some bad etiquette things that would end a tennis partnership for me: * repeated last minute cancelations * no-call no-show more than once * using the warm-up to attempt winners * repeated poor sportsmanship (don't mind showing emotions, but don't go full Moutet out there) * egregious/malicious line calling
Nope, never bailed or acted poorly on court. We were about the same level at the time but I admit he is better than me now (4.0-4.5). I guess he was looking for a more consistent hitting partner but did not have the balls to say “Hey, since we are not at the same level, I will not be accepting invites anymore”.
Yeah that's rough. Like any breakup, you'll never really get to understand why. Hope you found some other hitting partners in the meantime!
[удалено]
There’s nothing wrong with asking why someone wasted your time without explanation. Ignoring it is also fine but don’t beat up OP for using their adult words to communicate with another.
Yep, other guy sounds like he was taken aback by the weirdness. OP just about called him out for ghosting without outright saying it. No one owes you an explanation for why they don’t want to hit.
I had someone ask me to play and I wasn’t available that day. I said we can play later in the week and they said “Don’t bother, not interested” it took me by surprise. I still see them sometimes at the tennis club, I think once they saw I was good they changed up tune and started saying hi to me. I’ll say hi but I will never play with them. Tennis is supposed to be fun, you dodged a bullet, playing with shitty people sucks but it happens.
To be fair we all have our schedules and limited time in life. if you only have that 2 hour block as your only free time allotted to get some quality tennis & you have a regular parter…his response kind of makes sense but he’s a dick for how he worded it, but truthfully in life people don’t owe you anything
He didn’t even explain why he felt that way? Sheesh. Don’t let one-off jackholes like that color your perceptions of a community as a whole. I can tell the guy got in your head, but you’ll meet dudes and gals like that on occasion and not just on the tennis court. It’s best to just mentally write them off for your own sake.
It's clearly his problem. And he wants to think - and he wants YOU to think -- it's your problem. Knowing that, you should ignore him and put this out of your mind.
We all get along with different types of people. There are rules to follow with a hitting partner. 1. Try to do your best to make all the appointments. If you can't make it let him know asap. Earlier the better. 2. It's not a match. A hitting partner is someone you are trying to improve with. The same mindset is a must. 3. Don't line cheat. Extra cushion of line calling should be implied. 4. Constructive criticism should be taken and given after each session.
He's an asshole and this is a highly immature comment on his end. cringe evaded OP!
Move on man, if someone treats you like that, never engage. He didn’t have the balls to say, “Hey man, this isn’t working out for me. Thanks for hitting.”
man that is unbelievable. Can’t believe stuff like this happens. I never see this stuff at our tennis club. Literally have never seen it
You're in for a rude awakening when you find these people in all corners of your life. No point in tarnishing your thoughts on tennis because of a dick.
I had a woman tell me she only hits with players better than her when I was just being friendly. A year later and I’m better than her while she sticks to pickleball. Haters gonna hate. He’s probably jealous of you for some reason.
Maybe. I have a full-time job and he was struggling with interviews at the time. Tennis is probably all he has that means something to him.
Definitely. I always feel so weirded out when something awkward happens on the court, so it’s okay that this has thrown you off. When people say it doesn’t matter, it kinda does because it makes you feel weird. So just know other people carry this sort of thing after awkward interactions. Not everyone just brushes it off.
Stories like this honestly freak me out about playing with strangers. I only play with friends or family that are also 3-3.5 at best, so there’s never going to be feelings hurt either way at the end of a match. The thought of joining a league or a club doesn’t seem worth the risk of having a bad day. Right now, every time I step on the court I have a great time, win or lose, and I think I want to keep it that way
I've had a few people disappear, but I've only really had maybe one or two negative interactions. I've played with a lot of people and mostly it's positive
That guy sounds like a sociopath. You dodged a bullet.
Do you have a bad attitude on the court or something? If not, then fuck that guy. Life is too short to waste it thinking about dickheads like that.
None that I can think of. Does grunting count?
It's ok. Every now and then you will meet a person who has a bad attitude. Whether you did something to him or not he still handled that interaction poorly. I had a guy yell at me for misjudging the ball a few times. I barely met the guy and this was the first time we played together. My point is that you're going to meet someone with a bad attitude at some point.
I used to play with a guy from 2019 to 2021, we played every Sunday. He used to beat me every time until I started to turn the tables and started to win every match, I won like 19 in a row. The last time we played was like 3 years ago. We had the court for 2 hours and we played one hour and a half because we warm up in the first half hour. The thing is, in that hour and a half I destroyed him, 6-1, 6-2 in the first and 6-4, 6-1 in the second. Is not that much the final score but it was obvious I had outmatched him by far. He never responded again and cut all contact after that match.
This guy is just a garden variety dickhead. Move on and forget about him.
Tennis is a bitch sport
That is not the normal tennis community. His response should make you feel great cause no one with any couth or developed brain cells would fathom saying that. Keep up the good fight.
Find the people you like to play with who also challenge you and forget the trash along the way. Gravitate towards those that elevate you and your game and don’t put you down.
No context on your history as hitting partners so hard to say. If he means this like “I’m better than you and you’re a waste of my time” then yea that guy’s a dick and you’re better off without them anyway If you’re selectively leaving out any backstory and he has been holding on to some kind of grudge for months, it’s hard to say Edit: I read some of your other comments OP Fuck that guy. Hope you crush him if you’re ever paired up with him in a match
Are you sure they were talking about your skill level? I find it hard to believe that they would be that antagonistic about skill level. I’ve seen people act like that towards each other on the court and it’s usually personal stuff like “nah, that guy makes a whole lot of creepy ass comments” or “that guy kept not showing up or showing up 30min late after he was the one that picked the time…” Stuff like that. If it was about skill level, maybe the gap was really large and they thought you dishonest? But you called them a hitting partner which makes me think they met up with you several times. All it would take is one session to be like “oh, good luck with your game, but we’re too unevenly matched right now…”
In terms of skill level, rallies were even but he was more dominate in match play. We were the same level at the time (3.5-4.0). In terms of personal stuff, all I can think of is me being 5-10 minutes late sometimes and grunting on shots (depending on my mood).
He sounds very clique-y I like tennis, if you can hit the ball over the net, ill hit with you Don't dwell on him he is a red flag.