The redditor claimed a group called the Rossi Racquet Club for years had occupied two of the non-reservable courts at the Rossi Park in the Lone Mountain neighborhood from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday and turned away any duo who walked up and sought to join them for a doubles match. The post also said that the group’s founder, Chad Moore, charges a $250 “membership fee,” effectively running a racket — pardon the pun — by monopolizing a public tennis court. 

If a person had indeed assembled a group to occupy a public tennis court, and did so for financial gain, it would be infuriating.

By Friday afternoon, I figured maybe the news cycle had passed on tennisgate and I was in the clear. Then, my editor stopped by my desk. 

“Are you in town this weekend?” he asked.

Damn it.

So, just after 8 a.m. Saturday, I stopped by the courts to speak with the players.

Moore wasn’t happy to see me, as it meant more attention to him and his tennis club.

I was there for two and a half hours, and I didn’t see anyone else show up to play tennis, which was a bummer — I was hoping to meet those accusing this group in person, hear their side, and make sure Moore and his friends weren’t just feeding me bullshit. I was also hoping for some drama, frankly.

Moore and his fellow club members contested several claims in the Reddit post.

While an archived page on his group’s website does mention a $250 “membership fee (opens in new tab),” he claimed people don’t have to pay to be part of the group, and any payments members decide to make, including the membership fee or the suggested $5 donation per tennis session, are used to buy water, snacks, and tennis balls. 

“Which are getting more expensive these days,” he said.

Moore said anyone is welcome to play without joining the group or paying a donation.

The courts are first come, first served, so walk-ups have to wait for a set to finish before jumping in — but that’s standard. A set of at least six games, with one player winning by two, typically runs about 45 minutes.

Once your set is done, you go to the back of the line. There’s one other condition: If people are waiting, you have to play doubles. You can’t have two people monopolizing a court while others are standing around.

Those are the rules posted on a sign outside the courts by the Recreation and Parks Department.

Moore said his group plays from around 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., not until 2 p.m. ,as the Reddit post claims.

The post also said the group locked the gate leading into the court to prevent others from using it, but Moore said that was done by Rec and Parks because the gate was broken. There was no lock in sight when I visited.

He chalks up the griping to the Reddit poster not wanting to wait to use the court. While Moore was absent last Sunday, he claimed members informed him that shortly before the post appeared on Reddit, a man who was using an adjacent reservation-only court became irate and uttered profanities, claiming two teenage boys had been turned away from the courts Moore’s group was using. 

Moore said the two teenagers were waiting but simply used the reservation-only court, where they played tennis and pickleball for an hour.

Moore believes the man who yelled at members of his group and the person who made the Reddit post are the same person.

“It’s all drama; we don’t appreciate the internet witch hunt,” Moore said. “It’s one guy complaining because he has ulterior motives. He just doesn’t want to wait.”

The Reddit poster, who declined to share their name due to privacy concerns, said in a text message that he didn’t utter profanities and told the group, “You guys just played. Let the kids have a turn,” to which one of Moore’s cohort replied, “We’re in a group.”

The Reddit poster also said that they and their spouse invited the teens to play on the court they were using after checking the reservation list and seeing no one else was signed up after them. The poster pointed to other comments in his post complaining about the group not allowing them to play.

Other club members said that they rarely see people waiting to play with them.

“Wherever there are walk-ups, in my experience, we never turn people away,” said Jo, who declined to share her last name. “There’s hardly anyone waiting, anyways.”

Dave Lang, 69, said demand is high for tennis courts throughout the city. He regularly plays in Dolores Park and says there are often large groups of up to eight people who are not part of an organized group.

“We call it piling on,” he said. “You don’t need a club to do that.”

Lang rolled his eyes at the whole affair. Living in a city, he mused, you have to accept that you’re going to wait when scarce space is in peak demand. He plays tennis at Dolores Park at 6 a.m. to beat the rush.

Complaints about the Rossi Racquet Club are nothing new.

According to the Chronicle, people emailed Rec and Parks about the group several times since last year. A parks official told the newspaper it’s looking into the latest allegations and will consider options, such as making all courts reservation-only or dispatching a park ranger to apprise players of the rules.