doubles partners.

I have been single for what feels like an eternity sometimes.

And dating is hard.

Most of my friends are married now and there are moments where it genuinely feels like I’m the only one left behind. Somehow still stuck on terrible dates with men pretending to be cats.

I wish I was joking.

Shortly after my Intro to padel, Jen and I played our first ever competitive match together.

We got absolutely conned.

The other pair told us that in a 60 minute match you could only play two sets. They won the first. We won the second. So naturally they announced it was a draw and suggested we “just play for fun”.

Perfect.

I stopped keeping score and started attempting slice drop shots with very limited success.

Then, right at the end, they casually informed us they’d actually won the third set after all and therefore the match.

We had been robbed.
Criminal activity on a padel court.

I was cautious heading into my next game but also absolutely desperate to play again.

Desperate.

So, in a bold act of independence, I created my very own match on Playtomic. A friendly this time. Nobody was scamming me again.

I invited a girl I’d met at an intro session and thought nothing more of it.

Then:
“match confirmed.”

Two other players joined.

Boys.

And suddenly the game was on.

To protect the innocent, we’re going to call one of them Mr Ham & Cheese Sandwich for reasons that will make absolutely no sense to anybody reading this.

Mr Ham & Cheese Sandwich was fun. We chatted at the change of ends, had a genuinely good game and there was some talk in the group chat afterwards about future matches.

Then he messaged me privately asking if I wanted to partner with him in another game that Friday.

Reader, we absolutely smashed them. And they definitely were not expecting it.

And there’s something strangely intoxicating about being part of a doubles team.

It’s me and you.
Us against them.
I’ve got your back and you’ve got mine.

There’s something quietly powerful about that.

Mr Ham & Cheese hugged me after the match which, in hindsight, should probably have been my first clue there was some romantic interest there. Unfortunately I remain oblivious to these things about 95% of the time.

We swapped numbers and eventually I caught up to what was happening.

We dated for a while.
And technically, as a doubles partnership, we retired undefeated.

Less successful romantically, but still an impressive stat.

Eventually we went our separate ways. No drama, no heartbreak, just not quite right for each other.

But I kept playing because by this point I genuinely loved padel. For me.

In fact, padel was consuming so much of my life that even when I did match with seemingly functional humans on dating apps, I rarely had time to meet them because every free evening I had was already booked on a court somewhere.

So really, it was inevitable that my next entanglement would also involve padel.

I arrived late (tut tut) to a group coaching lesson one morning, having not done anything useful like checking who else was attending.

The session was focused on overheads and several Spanish words I had never heard.

Don’t worry though, I’m basically fluent in Gancho now.

Anyway, this guy we’re going to call Big Bear is an absolute teacher’s pet. The coach demonstrates something once and Big Bear immediately executes it perfectly while the rest of us are fighting for our lives.

Naturally he then gets paired with me for match play.

Poor bloke.
Drawn the short straw completely.

But between games we got chatting and by the time we walked back to the car park together you've never seen such an animated pair discussing their addiction.

Honestly, I got into the car thinking:
wow, that guy reallyyyyy loves padel.

Then my phone buzzed.

He messaged asking whether I was aware we’d already matched on a dating app.

Oops.

I genuinely had no clue.

We went on a few dates and quickly realised we not only share an obsessive love for padel but also the same slightly dark humour. 

Big Bear has taken padel nerdiness to a level I honestly didn’t know existed and I maintain nobody on this earth has ever spoken more frequently about viboras.

Then eventually we played together.

Technically we first played against each other and I was horrific. Like genuinely terrible. At one point even the coach actually heckled me.

But the second we ended up on the same side of the court, everything changed.

I couldn’t miss.
I felt calm.
Free.
Safe.

And honestly, there’s real power in that feeling.

Being part of a team where somebody fully has your back changes the way you play completely.

Together.
Us against the world.

I loved it.

Now, before anyone gets too excited, this is not a Cinderella story and there’s no dramatic happy ending here either.

We’re not together anymore.

But this also isn’t a sad story.

Because somehow, through one random coaching session, I gained a genuinely brilliant friendship with someone I value hugely. I'm so glad, and very grateful to still have him in my life. 

Big Bear has become one of my closest sounding boards for all things Addicted to Padel and despite everything, we’re actually still on the same team.

Still doubles partners.
Just strictly on court these days.

So if dating apps are making you question your sanity a little bit…

maybe try saying yes to new games.
Go to group coaching.
Play with different people.

Padel is an incredibly social world filled with like-minded people and at the very least, you might still end up finding somebody very special.

Even if it’s not forever x