List of real tennis world champions

Men's singles in "real" tennis is the first world championship in any sport. It predates the use of the term "real tennis," as the sport was called just "tennis" until lawn tennis gained popularity.

Except in cases where the champion has retired, the championship has always been on a challenge basis — the champion retains the title until losing an official challenge or retiring. Originally, the champion had the right to accept or reject a challenge, usually depending upon the prize money put up by the challenger's sponsor. Several years could thus go by between challenge matches. The top four ranked players in the world (excluding the champion himself) playoff for the right to challenge. The champion and challenger then play a match of up to 13 sets over three days (4 sets, 4 sets and up to 5 sets on the final day). In theory, this is the only match the champion has to play in the two years since winning the last one.

The most recent men's world championship match was held in 2023, with sets played on the 17th, 19th, and 21st of September in suburban Washington, D.C.

The men's doubles title is earned in a tournament, played off among the sport's eight top-ranked pairings. Competed every odd-numbered year, it is hosted in rotation among the countries with active courts in the following order: the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and the United States. The championship match uses a best of 9 sets format. After the first championship was won by Tim Chisholm and Julian Snow,[8] the title was won and then defended five times by singles world champion Rob Fahey and Steve Virgona. They lost their title in the final set of the final match in 2015, in a championship held at Prested Hall (UK). The title now belongs to Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm, who defended it successfully in the latest World Championship that took place in January 2019 in Hobart (Australia).

Year	Venue	Winners	Runners-Up	Scores	Notes
2001	Middlesex University	Tim Chisholm/ Julian Snow	Steve Virgona/ Ruraidh Gunn	5-1 (sets)
2003	Hobart	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	Tim Chisholm/ John Bainton	5-0 (sets)
2005	Fontainebleau	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	David Woodman/ Neil Roxburgh	5-0 (sets)
2007	Boston	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	5-3 (sets)
2009	Seacourt	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	Bryn Sayers/ Ricardo Smith	5-0 (sets)
2011	Melbourne	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	Ben Taylor-Matthews/ Julian Snow	5-0 (sets)
2013	Paris	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	5-4 (sets)
2015	Tuxedo	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	Robert Fahey/ Steve Virgona	5-0 (sets)
2017	Prested Hall	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	Robert Fahey/ Ricardo Smith	5-4 (sets)
2019	Hobart	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	Robert Fahey/ Nick Howell	5-1 (sets)
2022	Bordeaux	Tim Chisholm/ Camden Riviere	John Lumley/ Steve Virgona	6/4 6/3 6/3 6/4 2/6 3/6 6/4

Unlike the men's singles title, the women's title is earned in a tournament. The title holder must win her way through the draw for the right to defend the championship. The championship tournament is held every odd-numbered year. Since 2011 the title has been held by Claire Fahey (née Vigrass).[9]

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner-Up	Scores
1985	Melbourne	Judith Clarke	Lesley Ronaldson	2-1 (sets)
1987	Seacourt	Judith Clarke	Katrina Allen	2-0 (sets)
1989	Philadelphia	Penny Fellows	Sally Jones	2-1 (sets)
1991	Hobart	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	Sally Jones	2-1 (sets)
1993	Bordeaux	Sally Jones	Charlotte Cornwallis	2-1 (sets)
1995	Newport	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	Sue Haswell	2-1 (sets)
1997	Ballarat	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	Sue Haswell	2-0 (sets)
1999	Hampton Court	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	Sue Haswell	2-1 (sets)
2001	Washington	Charlotte Cornwallis	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	2-0 (sets)
2003	Melbourne	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	Charlotte Cornwallis	2-0 (sets)
2005	Paris	Charlotte Cornwallis	Joe Iddles	2-0 (sets)
2007	Manchester	Charlotte Cornwallis	Penny Lumley (née Fellows)	2-0 (sets)
2009	Newport	Charlotte Cornwallis	Karen Hird	2-0 (sets)
2011	Melbourne	Claire Vigrass	Karen Hird	2-0 (sets)
2013	Paris	Claire Vigrass	Sarah Vigrass	2-0 (sets)
2015	Leamington	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)	Sarah Vigrass	2-0 (sets)
2017	Tuxedo	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)	Sarah Vigrass	2-0 (sets)
2019	Ballarat	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)	Isabel Candy	2-0 (sets)
2022	Fontainebleau	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)	Lea van der Zwalmen	2-0 (sets)
2023	The Oratory	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)	Lea van der Zwalmen	2-0 (sets)

The women's doubles world championship[10] is held at the same time and venue as the women's singles championship. It is also a tournament format, rather than a challenge.

Year	Venue	Winner	Runner-Up	Scores
1985	Melbourne	Judith Clarke/Ann Link	Lesley Ronaldson/ Karen Toates	2-0 (sets)
1987	Seacourt	Lesley Ronaldson/ Katrina Allen	Judith Clarke/ Jane Hyland	2-0 (sets)
1989	Philadelphia	Sally Jones/ Alex Garside	Katrina Allen/ Penny Fellows	2-1 (sets)
1991	Hobart	Sally Jones/ Alex Garside	Penny Fellows/ Helen Mursell	2-0 (sets)
1993	Bordeaux	Charlotte Cornwallis/ Penny Fellows	Sally Jones/ Alex Garside	2-0 (sets)
1995	Newport, Rhode Island	Sue Haswell/ Penny Fellows	Sally Jones/ Lesley Ronaldson	2-1 (sets)
1997	Ballarat	Sue Haswell/ Penny Fellows	Fiona Deuchar/ Kate Leeming	2-0 (sets)
1999	Hampton Court	Sue Haswell/ Penny Fellows	Alex Garside/ Sally Jones	2-1 (sets)
2001	Washington	Joe Iddles/ Penny Fellows	Alex Garside/ Charlotte Cornwallis	2-1 (sets)
2003	Melbourne	Jo Wood (née Iddles)/ Penny Fellows	Alex Garside/ Kate Leeming	2-1 (sets)
2005	Paris	Charlotte Cornwallis/ Sue Haswell	Frederika Adam/ Susay Castley	2-0 (sets)
2007	Manchester	Charlotte Cornwallis/ Penny Fellows	Sue Haswell/ Kate Leeming	2-0 (sets)
2009	Newport, Rhode Island	Charlotte Cornwallis/ Karen Hird	Amy Hayball/ Juliette Lambert	2-0 (sets)
2011	Melbourne	Claire Vigrass/ Sarah Vigrass	Karen Hird/ Rosie Snell	2-0 (sets)
2013	Paris	Claire Vigrass/ Sarah Vigrass	Penny Fellows/ Tara Lumley	2-0 (sets)
2015	Leamington	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)/ Sarah Vigrass	Penny Fellows/ Tara Lumley	2-0 (sets)
2017	Tuxedo Club	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)/ Sarah Vigrass	Amanda Avedissian/ Saskia Bollerman	2-0 (sets)
2019	Ballarat	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)/ Tara Lumley	Penny Lumley/ Kate Leeming	2-0 (sets)
2022	Fontainebleau	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)/ Sarah Vigrass	Saskia Bollerman/ Isabel Candy	2-0 (sets)
2023	The Oratory	Claire Fahey (née Vigrass)/ Tara Lumley	Lea van der Zwalmen/ Saskia Bollerman	2-0 (sets)

• Grand Slam (real tennis)

A mixed doubles world championship has not been organized for real tennis.

• Real Tennis World Championship 2004 Program, p. 5, National Tennis Club, Newport, Rhode Island.

• Sports123.com: Real Tennis champions
• Real Tennis & Rackets World Champion Howard Angus