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Advice

How to Say No When You Don’t Want to Hit with Someone

Your basic options are: Fib, protect your schedule, start a business, or dominate them so thoroughly they'll never ask again.

10:27 AM EDT on August 11, 2025

Racquet’s See You In Court is a regular column in which I, Melissa Kenny, a famously mediocre lifelong player, heed reader questions about tennis, be they desperate (Help! I’ve won a few matches moonballing and now I can’t stop!), desperate in a different way (Where are the hot young tennis players in my area?) or life-threatening (Is it just me or are all tennis shoes fugly?). What I’m trying to say is, AMA! Look out for prompts on Racquet’s Instagram, or make yourself known in my DMs.

I don’t love starting off on a sour note, but the subject matter demands I tell you about a person I have no interest in hitting with.