A tennis ball pickup assembly having tube with a pickup gate device attached to a first end of the tube and a protective sleeve attached to a second end of the tube. The tube is sized and shaped to accept tennis balls. The body of the pickup gate device has a wall with a first end, a second end, and a hollow interior; and wherein a gate is located in a holding space of the hollow interior. The gate has a spring ring with a plurality of interconnected metallic coils, a metal wire, or a plurality of metallic leaf springs.