Real Tennis: Chisholm earns chance to challenge old order

Robert Fahey was, until recently, the hot favourite to retain the world real tennis title in the marathon head-to-head challenge which starts at Hampton Court Palace tomorrow, but his remarkable three-year winning run was ended last week by the charismatic New York professional, Tim Chisholm.

The big-hitting Tasmanian begins the defence of his crown tomorrow morning for the first tranche of the sell-out best-of-13 sets match, played over three days, against the man who beat him in that British Land National Open final. Chisholm, the world No 2, will be determined to repeat that gutsy victory to win the oldest world championship in sport, which was first staged in 1740.

To outsiders, real tennis, this royal and ancient forerunner of lawn tennis that was once played by monks and medieval courtiers on high-walled flagstoned courts, retains its picturesque image. It still looks suitably archaic with its porches, galleries, drooping net and involved scoring system, like a more complicated version of lawn tennis but using quaint phrases like "Hazard the door" and "Chase half-a-yard".

However, the game, played by around 10,000 people worldwide on 45 courts, around 25 of them in Britain, is booming, thanks partly to growing levels of media coverage and scores of newcomers, particularly women and juniors.Most soon get the hang of hitting the solid hand-made balls over the net and off the walls and porches, known as penthouses, with asymmetric rackets, and are then hooked on the canny tactics and the variety of cut and spin they need to master. The style of play, too, has altered out of all recognition in the last 20 years.

Forget the élitist image of public-school types clutching warped-looking wooden rackets and drifting about cloistered courts in long white trousers. At the top level, this is now a game for driven athletes, while the world championship has definitely burst into the 21st century.

For a start, it has been dominated in recent years by Australians, although around half the world's top 10 are British. There are now respectable levels of prize-money – a top pro can make up to £60,000 a year from club fees and winnings – and the game boasts a thriving professional circuit in Britain, America, Australia and France.

Fahey, arguably the greatest player ever, has also helped to usher in an era of power-play, dominating his opponents with dynamic forcing and explosive speed around the court. Only Chisholm, like Fahey a former lawn tennis professional, looks capable of knocking the champion off his perch; after three years of chasing him round the world, his British triumph came at the ideal moment for the American.

"Rob's taken the game to new heights," he said, "and made the rest of us train like crazy to try to match him, so it was a huge thrill finally to grab the win I'd worked for, for so long. But I know I'll have to keep attacking flat out at Hampton Court to stand any chance."

Chisholm, who watched the 9/11 strikes live on television while competing in Britain, believes the tragedy which took place two miles from his club, killing four members, hardened his resolve."It was horrendous but life goes on. New Yorkers are pretty resilient and it certainly spurred me on to train three hours a day and keep going after Rob, even though I'd lost to him time and again."

Fahey, once renowned as a "wild colonial boy" with brilliant natural talent which he sometimes dissipated by an over-fondness for partying, has virtually hibernated in the run-up to the challenge and admits that Chisholm's rapid rise has helped to focus his mind on retaining his title. "Tim's obviously playing very well and he's really up for this" he said, "but I like Hampton Court and I've had so much experience of world challenges that come Friday, I'll be raring to go."

With generous prize-money and a packed and wildly partisan gallery, with two camps each vociferously roaring on their man, plus a string of big-money wagers riding on the result, Hampton's own Henry VIII, himself a great real tennis gambling man, would feel entirely at home.