Real Tennis claims to have the oldest World Championship in sport,
dating back to 1740, when the first holder was Clerge of France.
An initial succession of French champions culminated in the great
Edmond Barre, whose reign from 1829 to 1862 meant that, extraordinarily,
he was champion in five decades. Barre spent much of his time in
England, giving lessons and playing matches. Legend has it that
his price for a tour of exhibitions included all his expenses plus
two wenches per day.
The mantle was assumed in 1862 by George Lambert, whose match
against the failing Barre lasted several days and included a number
of drawn sets. Since then, there have been a number of outstanding
champions, including the American, Tom Pettit who revolutionised
the game by introducing the overhead American twist, now commonly
known as the ‘Railroad’, in honour of a subsequent
champion, Jay Gould, whose father was the great magnate of the
U.S. rail business. In 1898 Pettit lost his title to Britain’s
Peter Latham, who held the distinction of being World Champion
at Rackets and at Tennis concurrently.
The most famous player of the twentieth century was the extraordinary
Basque, Pierre Etchebaster, who took up the game at the age of
28, won the title six years later and held it until retiring, undefeated,
at the age of 59.
In the modern era the outstanding player has been the current
champion, Robert Fahey from Australia, who has taken advantage
of the recent changes in equipment to develop a game that exploits
his extraordinary power and athleticism. As a result he has held
the World Championship for twelve years and rivals Etchebaster’s
record for successful defences.
In almost three centuries there have been just twenty-four World
Champions. For over a hundred years, the title has been decided
by the playing of a series of matches over three days, with the
winner being the first to take seven sets.
