Parris Todd and Hunter Johnson may have found love on the pickleball court, but it wasn’t love at first serve.

The first time Todd and Johnson played pickleball together they were actually on opposite ends of the court. And Todd absolutely “destroyed” Johnson. 

You go girl. 

“The first time we played together was MLP and I got drafted midseason to the Jackrabbits,” explained Johnson in an interview with the PPA Tour. “She was on a winning team and we played her team at 8 a.m. It was my first MLP experience and she’s in front of me, and I got destroyed.” 

It was clear that Todd loved showing off her superior pickleball game to her soon-to-be boyfriend. 

“I was like, 'You’re gonna be my boyfriend one day, get used to it,'” interjected Todd with a laugh.

Johnson detailed his first MLP event. He had just retired from pro tennis and felt nervous about pursuing this new racket sport at such a high level. Meanwhile, Todd had been playing pickleball for longer and was the picture of ease and nonchalance on the 20x44. 

“We were staying at the same Airbnb and she rolls out of bed, almost misses the match, and then destroys me on the court,” said Johnson.

“He’s staring straight ahead at this girl who’s just ripping him to shreds, so it’s got to tear down your confidence a little bit,” teased Todd. 

Though they often play mixed doubles together, the two have only played against each other twice. But by the next time they faced off, Johnson’s game had developed and he was certainly looking for some revenge at an MLP tournament in Las Vegas. 

“I was playing too aggressive with him,” admitted Todd.

“She was trying to body bag me,” Johnson chimed in. 

“The problem is, I was trying to be too aggressive because I didn’t want to show off, but I kind of wanted to assert my dominance and he ended up bodybagging me a few times and he didn’t even say sorry,” recounted Todd.

“He comes up to me after the match and I’m like, 'No, I don’t want to hear it right now. I don’t want to look at you, don’t talk to me,'” said Todd. 

Johnson swore he apologized, but Todd didn’t hear him. 

“He should have jumped over the net, kissed me on the cheek, and really said sorry,” insisted Todd. 

Todd also bodybagged Johnson during that match. And instead of a quiet apology, Todd blew Johnson a kiss. Though they both had strong competitive spirits, they obviously had some fun going head-to-head in MLP.

Johnson also shared that fellow pro Roscoe Bellamy encouraged Johnson to beat Todd that day - even though Bellamy was playing on Todd’s team.

According to Johnson, Bellamy encouraged Johnson to beat Todd. 

 “He said if you end up playing Parris, you better assert yourself because this is a big deal in the relationship,” shared Johnson. 

“And then after I beat her, I go up to Roscoe and say, ‘Hey what’s your advice here? How do I manage this?’ And he said, ‘It’s going to blow over. You did what you needed to do,’” Johnson described. “I asserted my dominance and she didn’t like it at first, but towards the end I think it made us stronger.”

The whole conversation felt like the classic teasing banter straight out of a romance novel. And as fierce competitors, it’s no wonder things got heated on the court. Personally, I can’t wait to see them going up against each other again. You know it’s going to be fun. 

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