Van Der Zwalmen retires Rackets World Championship
World Championship in May to crown successor
The inaugural and incumbent Ladies Rackets World Champion, Lea Van Der Zwalmen, has retired her title undefeated in a letter published by the T&RA on Wednesday.
Her resignation comes ahead of a World Championship Challenge scheduled for May, and will open the door for the second player to claim the title in the event’s history.
“When I first picked up a Rackets racquet in October 2013, there were perhaps a dozen women playing in the country,” said Van Der Zwalmen, “Ladies’ Rackets was still in its infancy. Over the past decade, the game has grown beyond anything we could have imagined; thanks to the commitment of the T&RA, the dedication of the UK professionals, and the steady emergence of opportunities to compete.”
Van Der Zwalmen began her rackets career at Clifton College, winning the Senior Schoolgirls Championships in 2014 and 2015, and claimed her first British Open singles title in 2015.
“To Clifton College, and to the people there who changed my life in ways I could never fully repay,” she said, “And above all to my Rackets coach, Reggie Williams, who introduced me to this extraordinary game. I have worked with many coaches across my sporting life, but Rackets led me to something rarer: a coach who builds the player and the person, who raises standards relentlessly, and who teaches that progress comes from discipline, not shortcuts.”
Van Der Zwalmen has been an unstoppable force in women’s rackets since, defeating Claire Fahey to claim the inaugural World Championship in 2015. Since then, she has won five back-to-back British Open titles and five back-to-back World Championship titles. She has defeated three separate challengers: Georgie Willis, Cesca Sweet and Claire Fahey, including a memorable come-from-behind win over Fahey in the most recent challenge in 2024. She has also won three British Open doubles championships — each with a different partner — and also holds the World Doubles championship with Sweet.
“Rackets has been one of the greatest educations of my life. It taught me how to win, how to lose, how to endure, and how to keep moving forward,” she said, “Competitive sport prepares you for life in ways nothing else quite can. And while the only way has always been up, now feels like the right moment to seek new lessons beyond competition. Letting go, however, does not mean stepping away. I care deeply about the future of the women’s game and will remain involved, particularly through ladies’ clinics.”
Sweet and Fahey are the favourites to succeed Van Der Zwalmen as World Champion. Sweet retains the World Number 1 title, though she has recently signed a two-year deal with Hampshire County Cricket Club. Fahey won the recent British Open and will seek to become the first player since Howard Angus to win both the real tennis and rackets titles.
Van Der Zwalmen’s full retirement letter can be read here.