Tennis vs. Pickleball – Protests Set for Sunday

It could be a little louder than normal on Championship Sunday.

And it might be more than just the fans and the players.

Groups of tennis supporters, as well as pickleball supporters, plan on holding warring protests at the Lower Woodland Tennis Courts, the site of this week’s PPA Tournament – The Seattle Open. 

More than 1,400 tennis players in the Seattle area signed a petition to get all the pickleball courts returned to tennis courts at the Lower Woodland Tennis Courts, the site of this week’s Seattle Open. Meanwhile, more than 1,700 pickleball players have signed a petition to keep all the resurfaced pickleball courts. 

Before the tournament, the PPA resurfaced the park’s 10 tennis courts into 24 pickleball courts with the intention of returning the courts to tennis or leaving some or all of them as pickleball courts. The PPA worked alongside the Seattle Parks and Rec Department for the event and received permission to get the courts ready for pickleball play.

“We worked hand in hand with the Seattle Parks Department to repurpose Lower Woodland Park for our event,” said PPA Tour Director Conner Ogden. “We will leave Lower Woodland Park better than we found it, whether the space is ultimately used for pickleball or tennis.”

Meanwhile, the PPA received an email from Roger Adams, who said his group, advocating for tennis, will be holding a “very vocal protest” on Sunday.

“There is no reason to keep appropriating tennis courts for pickleball,” Adams wrote. “This sport can be played on any flat surface including parking lots. There’s absolutely no reason to keep removing the already limited number of tennis courts.”

The PPA said it will return the courts to the tennis courts or leave them as they are, based on whatever the Seattle community wants.

“We ensured bringing a PPA event to the park added significant benefit to the community,” Ogden said.

Adams said his group was prepared to be loud.

“This will be a very vocal protest with the goal of completely disrupting the tournament by any legal means necessary,” he said in an email. “The use of bullhorns and other measures will be in effect. Feel free to respond if you have any desire to discuss the matter.”

Adams did not respond to multiple emails from the PPA asking for quotes and to discuss the matter further.