The Racquet Club of Philadelphia will host the 2027 Real Tennis World Championship, with the result of the bidding process being announced by the IRTPA on Thursday.
Camden Riviere is expected to return to defend his title, seeking to win his fifth singles World Championship. However, despite being an American champion, the home court advantage could be titled in the favour of his challenger, the home court professional John Lumley, should the latter progress through the Eliminators in early 2027.
Lumley currently leads the World Race, and is guaranteed one of four places in the Eliminator series with two events to play: the IRTPA Players’ Championships and the British Open. Nick Howell, Rob Fahey and Ben Taylor-Matthews are also likely to qualify, though Steve Virgona retains a possibility of taking the fourth spot. The Eliminators will take place between March and May 2027.
It will be the first time in 113 years that the World Championship Challenge will be held in Pennsylvania, with the only other instance being the 1914 match between the American amateur Jay Gould II and the British professional Fred Covey. Gould later won the first US Open at the venue in 1919 against Walter Kinsella — a challenge match between the leading professional and leading amateur in the country.
Philadelphia also hosted the third running of the Ladies World Championships in 1989, which saw John Lumley’s mother Penny Lumley win her first World Championship title. It will also mark the third consecutive Challenge to be held in the United States, which last occured in the Wayne Davies era in the early 1990s.
The challenge is expected to be held in late September 2027, with the exact dates to be announced at the end of November 2026. The guaranteed prize fund for the event has been annouced at $USD80,000, beating out one other undisclosed bidder.