The 2022 Ladies Real Tennis World Championships
Apr 11, 2022 - Apr 17, 2022 Jeu de Paume Fontainebleau LWC
The 2022 Ladies World Championships gathered a total of 17 players from all around the world including the Netherlands. 13 ladies played in the Singles and 6 pairs played in the Doubles. The event was completed by a Singles plate and a Doubles handicap tournament.
The 2022 Ladies World Championships gathered a total of 17 players from all around the world including the Netherlands. 13 ladies played in the Singles and 6 pairs played in the Doubles. The event was completed by a Singles plate and a Doubles handicap tournament.
The main competition ended with a fantastic match and a success from the immense champion Claire Fahey who won her 6th World title in singles against the young French hopeful Lea Van Der Zwalmen. Even if she tried to put up her best resistance, she did not find the answers against the experience, the incredible touch and the high-level game produced by Claire. It was the first time that Lea was playing at home for a World Championship, and despite the result, as Claire said, Lea is taking French ladies’ game to an all-new level. We certainly hope that these two champions will have many more battles in the future.
In doubles, Claire was pairing up with her sister Sarah Shuckburgh and they won the title against the pair made up of Isabel Candy and Saskia Bollerman. Even if Isabel was recovering from injury and Saskia was not able to train much by living in the Netherlands, they produced a promising game against the invincible sisters.
The Singles plate was won by Xanthe Ranger who defeated Alex Brodie, and the Doubles handicap saw the victory of Alex and Jess Garside against the pair made up of Nicola Doble and Alex Brodie, who sadly had to withdraw due to injury.
The club was very proud to be hosting the most prestigious ladies real tennis tournament in the world, especially after such challenging times. This event, every eight years in France, was an opportunity to showcase the best players in the world and promote our wonderful sport, and we are very thankful to both players and sponsors for their crucial support.
The event was blessed to be labeled by the Alice Milliat Foundation, which is the first European foundation for women in sports. This is an important step for real tennis and a recognition of the tradition of ladies playing it.
Our sport has a long history dating back to the 14th century as most of us know. It is less well known that Margot from Hainaut Province is the first woman named in the modern history of sport. She would play in Paris as early as 1427 and regularly beat some of the top male amateurs of the time. In the 18th century, prominent figures such as Madame Masson and Madame Bunel followed suit. More recently, Claire and Lea have been competing on equal terms in, respectively, some of the most prestigious professional and amateur tournaments in the world. This tradition of gender equality is something the sport of real tennis should be proud of and actively promote. It is our hope that this LWC has helped raised the profile of the ladies' game for years to come and attract more sponsors.
The week of competition took its promises and was an amazing display of sportsmanship, technical skills, and determination. We were so glad this gathering brought to the players and spectators a memorable time both on and off the court in the beautiful city of Fontainebleau.
It was also our task to raise the standards in organising such an event to match with what is normally done for men. Many things could have been better, and some will need to be improved in the future of course, but we are confident that one day, the format, as well as hosting and sponsoring, will reach what we could see for Men’s World Championship. If we were deemed to have contributed to show the way forward for top ladies’ tournaments, then we would definitely consider this event as a success!
Thierry Bernard-Tambour
Chairman
LWC Teaser released a month prior the event:
Singles final, upgraded editing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dop326_n7qA
Matches from final stages still online after being streamed on the dedicated website:
https://realtennis-lwc-2022.co...
