Real Tennis Fantasy League - Australian Open recap
Melbourne delivered a few upsets alongside some familiar results. Who made the most of the madness in the Real Tennis Fantasy League?
Here’s your round-up of the Real Tennis Fantasy League following Round 4 of the 2025/26 season - the Australian Open from the Royal Melbourne Tennis Club.
News
The 2026 Australian Open delivered some big upsets and curious match-ups throughout both the singles and doubles events. Nino Merola’s win against Nick Howell is probably one of the biggest upsets in the sport for a few years, while Howell and Virgona enacted their own upset in the doubles final by ending Camden Riviere’s incredible streak in Open competition. In the singles competition Camden Riviere sealed the title without dropping a set, while Nick Howell and Steve Virgona continue where they left off in Paris with another doubles title this season.
Points awarded
The results from Melbourne delivered a flurry of points to a number of players. Half the field (11 out of 22) benefitted from the 2% pick bonus (awarded where fewer than 2% of all picks went to that player.) We saw five big wins in the singles draw alongside three big wins in the doubles matches.
Points run-down
The full points run-down, with all bonuses included, is:
Camden Riviere: 48 points
Steve Virgona: 42 points +
Nino Merola: 35 points ++
Michael Williams: 32 points ^+
Claire Fahey: 30 points ^+
Alex Marino-Hume: 30 points ^+
Lewis Williams: 27 points +
Nick Howell: 25 points +
John Woods-Casey: 18 points +
Paul Rosedale: 13 points +
Henry Henman: 12 points +
Chris Chapman: 11 points
Tony Hollins: 10 points ^
Ben Hudson: 10 points ^
Kieran Booth: 8 points
Oliver Pridmore: 6 points ^
Levi Gale: 6 points
Sammy Legg: 2 points ^
Baudouin Huynh-Lenhardt: 2 points ^
Nick Stenning: 2 points ^
Eli Kozma: 2 points ^
Rhys Williams: 2 points ^
+ inc Big Win bonus
^ 2% picks bonus applied
The top of the Leaderboard is now stuffed with players who used Melbourne to go big for the season. Cone takes the top spot, turbocharging his strong start to the season with a huge 230 point haul (squad: Riviere, Howell, Virgona, plus a boost). Hobart’s Men Taylor-Batthews achieved the best score from Melbourne (262 points - squad Riviere, Riviere, Merola, plus a boost) to take the MVP title for Round 4.
You have to go down to CryMeARiviere from Leamington in joint 8th place as the best player yet to use their Tournament Boost (382 points).
Tournament Boosts
9 people used their Tournament Boost for the Australian Open, and almost all of them have been rewarded with spots at the top of the Leaderboard. That leaves around 60% of players yet to use it.
Budgets
Some players have healthy budgets after four rounds of this year’s Fantasy League. That said four players have spent over £450m, which might make for a rather frugal second half of the season!
Looking ahead
Round 5 takes us to the south coast of the UK and a new event for the Real Tennis Fantasy League. We’re dipping our toes into elite handicap tennis with the Seacourt Silver Racquet.
There’s an extensive Main Draw and Qualifying Draw, but you don’t have long to pick your team. The window for squad selections is open and closes on Thursday 29th January at 4pm GMT (11am EST, 3am Friday Melbourne time).
Select your squad through rtfantasyleague.com
Some rules to remember:
The Main Draw is played off half-handicap difference; the Qualifying Matches are played off level.
There are no doubles bonuses in this Round.
You can earn Big Win Bonuses for matches in the Qualifying Draw.
You do not have to fill your squad of three players if you don’t want to.
You can choose the same player twice (but not all three times).
Leaving all your squad selections blank will mean the auto-pick algorithms will come after you!
If you don’t want the auto-picks to choose a squad for you, be sure to “Skip Round”.
Get your friends to take part!
Registrations for the Real Tennis Fantasy League are always open. So please spread the word and let’s get more people playing!
Keeping in touch
The Real Tennis Fantasy League has its own WhatsApp channel, which around 60% of players are using for news, updates and reminders. You’ll also get updates during the tournament on how your players are doing.