London’s public tennis courts are increasingly being booked by automated software programs, known as “sniper bots,” frustrating amateur players who struggle to secure court time during peak hours. The phenomenon has led to growing tensions between local authorities, players, and developers of these automation tools.
Robert Neil, a recreational tennis player, said he now regularly resorts to playing at 7 a.m. because courts become nearly impossible to book at more convenient times. Many other players face similar challenges, as London’s approximately 1,400 publicly accessible tennis courts frequently show no availability shortly after booking windows open. Investigations revealed that bots actively monitor the official Clubspark website and instantly reserve available slots, effectively outpacing manual attempts.
In a test at Clissold Park in Hackney, all 7 p.m. slots vanished within about a minute of their release, with the bot-powered app Racket Club securing a booking in just nine seconds. Jonathan Balls, a software engineer who created Racket Club in 2025, attributed the app’s speed to algorithms that submit reservations within milliseconds of availability. Users of Racket Club can pre-select desired courts and times, and the app makes bookings automatically for a £1 fee. Another service, CourtBooker, uses Telegram messaging to automate reservations.
Local councils, which manage these facilities, have expressed concern about the bots undermining fair public access. Vanessa Threadgold, Southwark council’s executive member for parks and recreation, described the bots as creating an “unfair playing field.” Southwark and other bodies, including the All England Club at Raynes Park, have banned bot usage on their websites. Clubspark said it has enhanced technical monitoring to identify suspicious activity, tracking users via IP addresses and bank details, and reports suspected fraudulent bookings.
The rise of bot usage reflects a broader surge in tennis participation in England, with Sport England reporting a roughly 40% increase in adults playing at least twice monthly since before the COVID-19 pandemic. Peak demand has pushed court occupancy rates to around 94% during prime times at six of London’s busiest public venues, including Clapham Common and Highbury Fields, according to data from the app AnyCourt. Furthermore, when cancellations occur, about 40% of those slots are rebooked within 30 minutes, a pace that challenges conventional manual booking approaches.
Some tennis enthusiasts have resorted to creating their own bots to compete for court time, due to the difficulty and inconvenience of manual bookings, according to Shonal Kapoor, who runs a tennis social group. Connor McGuile, founder of AnyCourt, noted the improbability of success for players who attempt to secure courts by repeatedly refreshing booking websites without automated help.
Jonathan Balls said he was not aware that Racket Club’s activities might violate council terms or that efforts to clamp down on bots were intensifying. He suggested that automation is likely to become increasingly prevalent in the future, raising questions about how public authorities can respond effectively to this evolving challenge.