Steve Virgona

Last updated

Steve Virgona
Full nameSteven Virgona
Country (sports) Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia
Residence Flag of the United States.svg United States
PlaysLeft-handed
Club Racquet Club of Chicago
World Championships
Open SinglesChallenger (2010, 2012)
Open DoublesW (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013)
Singles
Career titles7
Current ranking6
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open W (2005, 2007, 2011, 2013)
British Open W (2013, 2015)
French Open F (2005, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2023)
US Open W (2011)
Doubles
Career titles26
Current ranking7
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open W (1998, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2024)
French Open W (2009, 2010, 2023)
British Open W (1999, 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015)
US Open W (2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012)

Steve Virgona (born 25 September 1978) is an Australian professional real tennis player based in Chicago. [1] As of 2017, he is ranked number three in the world. [2] Virgona's victories include the Australian Open (four times), the British Open (twice) and the US Open.

Career

Virgona started his career as a professional at the Ballarat real tennis club before moving to Melbourne at the age of 18. Steve gained much success early by playing doubles, and reaching the final of the British Open in 2001. Virgona worked as a professional in London, primarily at the Burroughs club, before moving back to Melbourne in 2004. After securing a position in Philadelphia in 2006, Virgona's tennis improved markedly and his ranking rose to world number 2. He defeated world champion Robert Fahey twice in 2006, but lost his world championship campaign to Tim Chisholm that year. [3]

Steve's tennis continued to improve, winning the Australian Open, and entered the 2008 world championships as the favourite to challenge Fahey. He lost narrowly to Camden Riviere in the final eliminator, and got revenge soon after in the US Open.

In 2010, he won the US Open doubles championship, partnered by Ben Matthews.

Related Research Articles


Robert Leo Fahey, nicknamed "Bag", is an Australian real tennis player and the former World Champion of the sport, holding the title from 16 March 1994 to 21 May 2016 and again from 28 April 2018 to September 2022. Fahey retired from competitive Real Tennis following his loss to Camden Riviere in the 2022 World Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Real Tennis World Championship</span>

The Real Tennis World Championship is the main competition in real tennis.

Tim Chisholm is a semi-retired American real tennis player. He is Racquets Director at The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Slam (real tennis)</span>

A Grand Slam in the sport of real tennis is earned by a player who holds the following titles in the same calendar year:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abigail Spears</span> American tennis player

Abigail Michal Spears is a former professional tennis player from the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camden Riviere</span> American real tennis player

Camden Riviere is an American left-handed real tennis player and current world champion. He became world champion on May 21, 2016, defeating long-time holder Robert Fahey 7 sets to 2 at Riviere's home court, the National Tennis Club, Newport, Rhode Island. Two years later, at Riviere's first defense of the title, Fahey reclaimed the title beating Riviere by 7 sets to 5 at Queen's Club, London. Riviere regained the title from Fahey at the 2022 World Championship played at Prested Hall in Feering, Essex, England, winning by 7 sets to 5. He retained the title in 2023, defeating John Lumley 7 sets to 3 at the Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarmere Jenkins</span> American tennis player

Jarmere Jenkins is a retired American professional tennis player who became the hitting partner for Serena Williams. He was the 2013 Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Player of the Year and male ACC Athlete of the Year after earning the national championships in indoor singles, outdoor doubles and team competition while also finishing runner up in outdoor singles. He was the first Atlantic Coast Conference athlete to win ACC athlete of the year solely for tennis accomplishments. In his first full year as a pro, he cracked the top 200 in the 2014 year end rankings at 193, but the costs of travel became prohibitive for him and he retired in 2017.

Ben Taylor-Matthews is a professional British Real Tennis player based at Bristol Real Tennis Club. His career high ranking is world number 4, and his current ranking is 5. To date, he is yet to win a major singles title but has contested two Australian Open finals, as well as an IRTPA Championships final, plus a Champions Trophy final. He unsuccessfully challenged for the World Championship on three occasions, most recently in 2023.

Gabriela Ruffels is an Australian American former tennis player and current professional golfer. Starting at the age of eight, Ruffels started playing tennis and won twenty one International Tennis Federation doubles events in Europe. She also was the number one ranking Australian junior when she was twelve. After switching from tennis to golf in 2015, Ruffels primarily competed in Australia from 2016 to 2017. In 2018, Ruffels joined the USC Trojans women's golf team at the University of Southern California. With USC, Ruffels appeared at the NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships from 2018 to 2019 in both the individual and team events.

The 2018 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at the Queen's Club in London, England. 12-time world champion Rob Fahey regained the world title defeating the defending champion Camden Riviere by a score of 7–5.

The 2022 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at Prested Hall in Feering, Essex, England in September 2022. Rob Fahey, the 13-time and reigning world champion, was beaten by the challenger, and former champion, Camden Riviere. The challenge had been originally scheduled to take place in April 2020, but was postponed to September 2022 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2016 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at the National Tennis Club in Newport, Rhode Island. 12-time world champion Rob Fahey lost the championship for the first time since 1994 to challenger Camden Riviere by a score of 7–2.

Claire Faheynée Vigrass is a British real tennis and rackets player and current real tennis Ladies World Champion. She holds over 40 Open singles titles and has completed a Grand Slam on five occassions. She is the first female player to play in the main draw of three of the four Men's Opens, and the first to female player to reach a semi final stage. She has also challenged for the Rackets World Championships on two occasions and has won five British Open Rackets titles.

John Colin Lumley is a British professional real tennis player currently ranked at number 2 in the world. He unsuccessfully challenged Camden Riviere for the 2023 Real Tennis World Championship at Westwood Country Club in Vienna, Virginia. He currently works as the assistant professional at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia.

Nick Howell is a professional real tennis player based at the Aiken Tennis Club in Aiken, South Carolina. Howell currently ranked number 3 in the world in both singles and doubles and won the French Open in 2023. Howell has challenged for the Real Tennis World Championship on two occasions, playing in the First Round Eliminator in 2020 and the Final Eliminator in 2023.

Léa van der Zwalmen is a French rackets and real tennis player and the current rackets World Champion. She is undefeated in rackets since the inaugural Ladies World Championship in 2015. In real tennis, she represents the Jeu de Paume de Bordeaux in Mérignac, Bordeaux and is women's world number 2. She has contested two World Championship singles finals and has won one Open doubles title. She has previously represented France in junior squash and also plays padel tennis.

The 2023 Real Tennis World Championship was a real tennis tournament held at the International Tennis Club of Washington in McLean, Virginia in September 2023. Reigning champion Camden Riviere was challenged by first-time challenger John Lumley. Riviere won his third World Championship title, and his first successful defense, defeating Lumley 7 sets to 3.

Saskia Bollerman is a Dutch real tennis player. She holds two singles and seven doubles Open titles, and has reached the final of the World Doubles Championship on three occasions. She has held the Dutch Women's Champion title between 2016 and 2018 and continuously since 2022, and reached the final of the Dutch Closed Championship on two occasions, losing both times to her brother Paul Bollerman.

The 2024 Real Tennis Australian Open was the 92nd edition of the Australian Open. The men's event was held at the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club in Melbourne between January 2-9, 2024 and was organised by the Australian Real Tennis Association, forming part of the qualifying series for the 2025 Real Tennis World Championship. It was held concurrently with the 2024 Boomerang Cup. The women's event was held at the Hobart Real Tennis Club between March 18-23 2024. The women's event was held at a later time to align with the 2024 Bathurst Cup, hosted at the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club in March. The men's draw was the first grand slam event of the year.

The 2023 French Open also known as the 2023 Open de France du Jeu de Paume was the 41st edition of the real tennis French Open. The event was held at the Société Sportive du Jeu de Paume & de Racquets in Paris between September 24 and October 1, 2023, and was organised by the Comité Français de Courte-Paume, forming part of the qualifying series for the 2025 Real Tennis World Championship. The event was held days after the 2023 Real Tennis World Championship meaning that world top 2 Camden Riviere and Johnl Lumley were not in attendance. The men's draw was the third grand slam event of the year.

References

  1. "Steve Virgona". International Real Tennis Professionals Association. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  2. "World Rankings". International Real Tennis Professionals Association. Archived from the original on 11 January 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. "Final Eliminator Match Coverage". International Real Tennis Professionals Association. Archived from the original on 16 September 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2018.