The new world ranking system has been in place since 1^st January 2018.

This has come about by top players approaching the IRTPA to see if something more equitable could be achieved whereby it is not based on the players who have entered, which up to now has given the intrinsic value of the tournament, but for ranking and race points to be based on the amount of net prize money in the ranking tournament.

All prize money will be converted to US$ and the spot rate as at the 1^st January each year will be taken. If a currency should fluctuate by 20% then the spot rate will be altered accordingly. This will not affect tournaments that have taken place, only future ones.

The world championship will have for the purpose of allocating ranking points a fixed value of US$30,000. The world championship will no longer carry race points as it has previously.

Race points and ranking points will now be a straight accumulation of points earned from an event, there will be no average finish, beautification etc of these points.

All players will know before they enter an event what points they will receive at varying stages of the tournament. Additionally, ranking and race points will be awarded from the R.16. Once the entry form of a ranking event is published showing the net prize fund for distribution an area on the IRTPA’s web site will show what the points available are for that event.

On January 1^st 2018 the new system will take into account all tournaments within the current ranking system and the race points will begin at zero.

The prize money value will be capped should an event have more than $50,000 as below.

100% up to $50,000, 50% up to $100,000 and then 10% for any further monies. By way of example, a tournament that had a total of $150,000 would be:

$50,000 + $25,000 (for the $50,000-$100,000 part) + $5,000 (for the $100,000-$150,000 part) = $80,000.

How The Ranking and Race Points Are Calculated

If the event is an Open the prize fund is multiplied by 1.5. The net prize fund is divided by 57. This figure comes about by the payment values at each stage of an Open tournament:

• Winner = 15 points
• Finalist = 10 points
• Semi Finalist = 12 points (6 points each)
• Quarter Finalist = 12 points (3 points each)
• Round of 16 = 8 points (1 point each)

Total in 57 points

These points are allocated to all players participating irrespective of status for ranking and race points.

The ranking points will run over a 3 year period, with points depreciating by a 1/3 of their original value each year, as they did under the previous ranking system. The race points will start at zero on January 1st each challenge year and finalise after the last ranking tournament pre challenge year.

Doubles Ranking System

The players’ again were the catalyst behind a doubles ranking system being created.

This new world ranking was created in the last quarter of 2021.

Unlike the singles ranking points it runs over a 4-year period with points diminishing by a 1/4 each year. There are no race points. The doubles ranking is a combination of singles ranking points with the doubles ranking points calculated from the doubles prize fund.

Singles tournaments receive ranking and race points
Doubles Open receive ranking points but not race points

• The World Championship Singles and Eliminators (excluding the losers of the 1st round eliminator) receive ranking  points.

Below are the current tournaments holding world ranking points and world race points held in each country.

Tournaments marked with a * do not happen on an annual basis.

Australia

• Australian Open Singles
• Australian Open Doubles
• The Tasmanian Open Singles *
• The Victorian Open Singles *

France

• French Open Singles
• French Open Doubles

United Kingdom

• British Open Singles
• British Open Doubles
• Real Tennis Champions Trophy

United States

• U.S. Open Singles
• U.S. Open Doubles
• U.S. Professional Singles
• Players’ Championship (formerly IRTPA Championship)

Rob Fahey since winning the World Title in 1994 had defended it successfully four times – 1995, 1996, 1998 and 2000.

Challenges could only be made to the incumbent World Champion by a player who had won an Open title. James Male won the 1999 British Open accepted Fahey’s challenge and then withdrew at a later date. This threw the World Challenge into disarray; Fahey wanted a challenge, but he had no challenger. He had won all the Opens in 2000 and 2001.

ARTA under the chairmanship of Paul Wheeler, came up with a simple solution which would create a challenge for Fahey. ARTA proposed to the three other National Associations that the finalists of the Opens in the two-year period where Fahey had won all, should be invited to play in a series of eliminators for the right to challenge him in 2002. This proposal was rejected by the three other National Associations.

Fahey tentatively approached Susie Falkner the CEO of the newly formed IRTPA as to whether the Association would be prepared to act for him in organising and running the World Challenge. Falkner discussed this proposal with Chris Ronaldson and Lachie Deuchar. They both agreed that it was totally unsatisfactory for Fahey not to have a Challenger and said the Association should accept Fahey’s proposal and that the Challenger’s would come from one of the players’ who had been a finalist in an Open event in the last two years.

New provisional rules were set by Ronaldson and Deuchar and agreed to by Fahey and the four possible challengers. In the past the World Champion has had the prerogative to say when and where the challenge round would be held. Fahey agreed to relinquish these privileges so that the World Challenge can be hosted at courts around the world, every two years.

The challengers were Tim Chisholm (1) Chris Bray (2) Mike Gooding (3) and Nick Wood (4). The draw would be Chisholm v Wood and Bray v Gooding playing on a home and away basis. The Final Eliminator was between Chisholm and Bray with Chisholm winning to go through to Challenge Fahey over 3 match days of 29th November, 1st December and 3rd December 2002 at The Royal Tennis Court.

The IRTPA met with representatives from the 4 National Associations during the 2002 Challenge under the guidance and Chairmanship of Alan Lovell. The rules of the Challenge were established, and the Challenge process has run since 2002 run in this format.

A new committee, The International World Championship Committee (IWCC) was formed when the IRTPA took over governance of the World Challenge in 2002, with representatives from each National Association being invited to sit on the IWCC. Paul Wheeler, ARTA’s Chairman, became the first Chair of the IWCC.