2021 Real Tennis World Championship

As the defending champion, Robert Fahey qualified directly to the World Championship Challenge. The challenger was determined through a series of eliminator matches. Qualification to the eliminator matches was based on results in major tournaments in 2018 and 2019. Four players were declared eligible to compete:[1]

1. Camden Riviere, Tennis and Racquet Club, Boston
2. Chris Chapman, Royal Melbourne Tennis Club
3. Ben Taylor-Matthews, Leamington Tennis Court Club, Leamington
4. Nick Howell, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Newport, Rhode Island

Former champion Riviere returned to the eliminators, having previously won the right to challenge on three occasions: 2008, 2014 and 2016. He did not participate in the eliminator process in 2018 as he was the defending champion. Despite a period away from the sport recovering from Lyme disease,[2] he still managed to complete a Grand Slam in 2019. Alongside Tim Chisholm, he also retained the Doubles World Championship in Hobart in 2019.

Chapman qualified for the eliminators for a second consecutive cycle, having lost to Steve Virgona in the first round in 2018. Since the previous cycle, he won his first major open at the 2018 French Open, albeit in the absence of Riviere. In the same year, he also reached the final in the Australian and British Opens, rising through the rankings to a career-best number 3 spot. He also moved from his previous role at Hampton Court Palace to his native Melbourne.[3]

Taylor-Matthews returned to the qualifiers for the first time since 2012, where he lost in the first round to Bryn Sayers. During the qualification period, he reached the final of the 2018 French Open; the first such appearance in a major singles tournament. He also won the doubles alongside John Lumley in the same tournament.[4]

Howell qualified to the eliminators for the first time. He reached the finals of a major Open for the first time at the 2018 Australian Open. Alongside Rob Fahey, he won doubles titles at the 2018 Australian Open and the 2018 British Open and challenged for the 2019 Doubles World Championship.

The format for the first round eliminators was unchanged from the previous year. However, the final eliminator was changed from a series of up to three home and away best-of-five set matches to a single best-of-thirteen set match at a single venue, mimicking the Challenge itself. In previous years, the matches were held on a home and away basis as three best-of-five set matches.[5]

The venues for the first round eliminators were chosen via a bidding process. Each player had the right to put in a bid for their chosen court. The hosting rights of the Riviere-Howell match were won by The Oratory School in Woodcote, Oxfordshire. The right for the Chapman-Taylor Matthews match were won by the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club

The 2021 World Championship Challenge will be held as a best-of-13 set match between defending champion Robert Fahey and former champion Camden Riviere. In March 2019, the venue for the challenge was announced as Prested Hall in Feering, Essex. At the time of announcement, it was the home court of Robert Fahey, although he and his wife Claire would move to The Oratory School in September 2020.[10] It will be the first time that Prested Hall will host a Singles World Championship, although it did host the Doubles World Championship in 2017 where Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm defeated Robert Fahey and Ricardo Smith. The only previous singles experience Camden Riviere has at Prested Hall was an IRTPA National League match against Ricardo Smith in 2007.

The pair have previously met in each of the last three World Championship challenges, two of which were won by Fahey, and one by Riviere. Their first meeting was in Fontainebleau, France in 2008, which was Riviere's first challenge. Then, Riviere had never before beaten Fahey, but gave a strong showing to win five sets from Fahey. They would next meet in Melbourne, Australia in 2014. Again, Fahey successfully defended his championship 7–3. Riviere won his first championship at his then-home club of Newport, Rhode Island in 2016. Fahey successfully challenged back for the championship in 2018 at Queen's Club, London two days prior to his 50th birthday. Apart from the two World Championship losses in 2014 and 2018, Riviere has defeated Fahey at every encounter since 2013. In 2019, Riviere completed the second Grand Slam (real tennis) of his career, although he missed several tournaments in 2018 and early 2020 due to recurring Lyme disease. Fahey completed his 50th career Major singles Open at the 2019 British Open, although Riviere was not present at that tournament.[11][12] Prior to the match, Fahey revealed that he does not intend to challenge or defend his title after 2021, citing age and the effect of playing on his ankles.[13]