It’s time to get whacked.
The Big Apple’s best pickleball players are currently battling it out at the 2025 Zimmer Biomet APP New York City Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The fourth annual Association of Pickleball Players tournament started on Tuesday, May 20, and it runs until Sunday, May 25.
More than 1,000 players are competing in 268 divisions for a total of $150,000 in prize money. Categories include Mens Pro Singles, Womens Pro Singles, Mixed Pro Doubles, Mens Pro Doubles, Womens Pro Doubles, and several dozen amateur levels along with an AARP Champions Division and a teams format known as “Humana Cup.”
ESPN+ will broadcast some live matches and run recap shows on May 27.
There’s no listed price for admission and a few matches will be played at Queen College.
Queens Courts
For those who enjoy the sport – and maybe hope to practice a lot and play in next year’s Zimmer Biomet APP New York City Open – here’s a list of great places to play pickleball in Queens. It runs from west to east.
Gotham Pickleball, 5-25 46th Ave., Long Island City
CityPickle, 9-03 44th Rd., Long Island City
Court16, 13-06 Queens Plaza S., Long Island City
Frank Principe Park, Three Queens Midtown Expy., Maspeth
Louis C. Moser Park, 75-98 25th Ave., East Elmhurst
Prime Sports, 79-08 Cooper Ave., Glendale
Al Oerter Recreation Center, 131-40 Fowler Ave., Flushing
Active Pickleball Tennis Center at Queens College, 65-30 Kissena Blvd., Flushing
Commonpoint Queens Tennis and Athletic Center, 79-20 Winchester Blvd., Alley Pond Park/Queens Village
Archie Spigner Pickleball Courts, 111-20 172nd St., Jamaica
Roy Wilkins Recreation Center, 177-01 Baisley Blvd., Jamaica
Flushing Fields Memorial, vicinity of 149th Street and 25th Avenue, Bay Terrace
Crocheron Park, 214-41 34th Ave., Bayside
Rockaway Beach Pickleball coming soon to 97-25 Beach Channel Dr.
YMCA Rockaway at Arverne by the Sea, 207 Beach 73rd St., Arverne
Pickleball, anyone?
Tom Brady loves it. Lebron James does, too. In fact, pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the United States from 2021 to 2024, as per the Sports and Fitness Industry Association.
Invented on Bainbridge Island near Seattle in 1965, pickleball has singles and doubles versions. It’s played on a badminton-sized court with a modified tennis net. Players use paddles and plastic balls with holes.
And although it began as a hobby, it became a professional sport with prize money when the APP was established in 2019.
Image: Gotham Pickleball