World Champion for 1000 weeks

There are those among us who might believe the staging of a world championship of real tennis would involve a match in which the combatants must serve-and-volley on both deliveries while wearing Dunlop Volleys and using those old wooden Maxfli racquets with the Union Jack stamped on the throat.

But the most genuine form of real tennis dates back to the 1200s, grabbed the attention of William Shakespeare, has been crowning World No 1s since 1740 and is the oldest contested championship in world sport.

The 46-year-old Rob Fahey and American Camden Riviere will go best-of-13 sets at the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club from Tuesday.

Fahey has been the World No 1 for more than 1000 weeks after tumbling into the sport from his pursuit of the most coveted commodity for most prospective university students: the amber fluid.

“It was to work at the real tennis club in Hobart.

Fahey’s 11 world titles, 11 British Opens, eight US Opens, 13 French Opens and 13 Australian Opens make him the most successful real tennis player of all time.

“When you see lawn tennis and real tennis side by side, they do look quite similar.