The Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour is the latest name for the women's professional racquetball tour. It features the world's best players and several events each season - running from September to May - that are mostly played in the USA.
Rhonda Rajsich is an American racquetball player. She has been World Champion in Women's Singles twice, and Pan American Champion 6 times, as well as US Open champion four times. Rajsich was the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour season ending rankings four times – three straight seasons from 2005–06 to 2007-08 and then again in 2010–11. She is of Serbian descent.
Paola Michelle Longoria López is a Mexican racquetball player. She is the current Women's World Champion in both Singles and Doubles, winning both divisions at the 2022 International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships in San Luis Potosi. Longoria is the winningest player in IRF World Championship history, and she is the only woman to win both singles and doubles at Worlds. Longoria is also the #1 player on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) tour, and was the first Mexican woman to attain the #1 pro ranking, doing so at the end of the 2008–09 season. She repeated the feat at the end of 2009–2010 season, and has been #1 for ten consecutive seasons. Longoria's style is characterized by a semi-western grip of the racquet, which is unusual for racquetball; Longoria is the only pro player using this grip style.
Jennifer "Jen" Saunders is a Canadian retired racquetball player from Winnipeg, Manitoba. In her last Canadian Championships in 2019, Saunders won both Women's Singles, for a record extending 11th time, and Women's Doubles, for a 13th time. Her 11 Canadian Women's Singles Championships and 24 combined Canadian Women's Singles and Doubles Championships are Canadian women's records. Saunders was the 2009 Manitoba Female Athlete of the Year as voted by the Manitoba Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association. Saunders announced her retirement from competition in December 2019, as she accepted the position of Administrator of High Performance and Sport Development with Racquetball Canada. In July 2020, Saunders was named as one of the 2020 inductees into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame.
Samantha Salas Solís is a Mexican racquetball player. Salas is the current World Champion in both Women's Doubles - winning that title for a fifth time with Paola Longoria at the 2022 World Championships in San Luis Potosí, Mexico - and Mixed Doubles with Rodrigo Montoya. She is also the current Pan American Games Champion in Women's Doubles, winning that title with Longoria for a third consecutive time in 2019 in Lima. Salas was the second Mexican woman to finish in the top 10 rankings on the women's pro tour, doing so at the end of the 2006–07 season. Salas was ranked 3rd at the end of the 2019-20 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season, which was her tenth season in the top 10.
Cristina Amaya is a Colombian racquetball player. Amaya finished the 2017-18 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season as the 8th ranked player, which was her eighth consecutive season in the top 10. She was the third South American player to be in the women's pro top 10 after Angela Grisar and Veronica Sotomayor.
María José Vargas is a Bolivian-born Argentine racquetball player. She is the current Pan American Champion in Women's Doubles, as well as part of the Women's Team Pan Am Champions and the current South American Racquetball Champion in Women's Singles and Doubles. Vargas has five wins on the Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT), and has finished in the top 10 seven times - five of those were within the top three with her career best coming in 2014-15, when she finished #2.
Frédérique Lambert is a Canadian racquetball player. Lambert is the current Canadian Champion in Women's Singles and Women's Doubles, and has won seven Canadian Championships: four in Women's Singles and three in Women's Doubles. She has been a member of the Canadian National Team since 2008, and has won several medals in international competitions, most recently a bronze medal in Women's Doubles at the 2016 World Championships. Lambert was the #2 ranked player at the end of the 2017-18 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season.
The International Racquetball Federation's 17th Racquetball World Championships were held in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, from June 14 to 21, 2014. This was the second time Worlds were in Canada. Previously, they were in Montreal in 1992.
Michelle Key is an American racquetball player. Key has two medals from the Pan American Games. She earned silver in the Women's Team event in Toronto in 2015 and bronze in the Women's Team event in Santiago in 2023. Key was ranked 7th at the end of the 2014-15 Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) season.
This topic lists the racquetball events for 2016.
The International Racquetball Federation's 19th Racquetball World Championships were held in San José, Costa Rica from August 10–18, 2018. Originally, the event was to be held in Haining, China, but on March 17, 2018, the IRT announced via its Facebook page that the venue will be changed due to complications. Cali, Colombia was the first alternative choice, but there were complications there as well, so on June 16, 2018, the IRF announced via Facebook that San José, Costa Rica will host Worlds.
The 2019 Pan American Racquetball Championships took place in Barranquilla, Colombia from April 12–20 at the Parque de Racquetas La Castellana, which was used for the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. Bolivia won both Men's Singles and Doubles for the 1st time in tournament history, while Mexico won both Women's Singles and Doubles for the 5th time.
The women's singles racquetball competition at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru were held between August 2nd and 7th, 2019 at the Racquetball courts located at the Villa Deportiva Regional del Callao cluster. Paola Longoria of Mexico won gold in Women's Singles for a third consecutive time, and she's the most decorated women's player in Racquetball at the Pan American Games.
Gabriela Martinez is a Guatemalan racquetball player. Martinez is the current Pan American Games Champion in women's doubles. She is a former International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Champion in the women's singles, winning the title at the 2018 World Championships. Martinez has competed on the Guatemala National Team at international tournaments since 2012, garnering many medals across her career.
Natalia Mendez is a Bolivian-born Argentine racquetball player. She is the current South American Champion in Women's Doubles and was the 2022 Pan American Champion in Women's Doubles, winning both titles with Maria Jose Vargas. Mendez has medaled at the International Racquetball Federation (IRF) World Championships as well as the Pan American Games.
The racquetball competition at the 2022 World Games took place from July 10 to 13 in Birmingham, Alabama in the United States at the University of Alabama Birmingham. Originally scheduled to take place in July 2021, the Games were rescheduled for July 2022 as a result of the 2020 Summer Olympics postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Racquetball returns to The World Games programme after nine years of absence.
The men's singles event in bowling at the 2022 World Games took place from 8 to 11 July 2022 at the Birmingham–Jefferson Convention Complex in Birmingham, United States.
The men's singles event in racquetball at the 2022 World Games took place from 10 to 13 July 2022 at the University of Alabama Birmingham in Birmingham, United States.
Angélica Barrios is a Bolivian racquetball player. Barrios is the current Pan American Champion in Mixed Doubles, winning the title at the 2023 Pan American Racquetball Championships in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and a former Pan Am Champion in Women's Singles. She is also the first Bolivian to win a medal at the World Games, as she won bronze at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
