Claire Fahey

Claire Fahey began playing real tennis at Prested Hall in Feering, Essex alongside her elder sister Sarah Vigrass.

She played in the 2007 Ladies World Championship in Manchester, this time reaching the second round and falling to professional Kate Leeming.

Her loss to Karen Hird in the 2009 French Ladies Open final would be the last time she lost a set or a match in a competitive women's fixture in over one and a half decades.

She continued her unbeaten run through 2012, earning her second career Grand Slam, going on to her defend her second Ladies World Championship at Paris in 2013 against her sister Sarah Vigrass.

However, at the 2022 French Open, Fahey lost a competitive women's doubles match for the first time in 13 years, losing the final to Lea van der Zwalmen and Saskia Bollerman in straight sets.

The following year, another world championship was held, this time at Fahey's home court at The Oratory School, which she again defended against van der Zwalmen.

Fahey competed in the inaugural British Ladies Open Rackets event in 2011 at the Queen's Club, winning against Barbara Vintcent 3-0.

However, in the final she lost to Lea van der Zwalmen[12] and subsequently retired from competitive rackets, owing to the difficulty of accessing courts and her newborn children.

In 2023, Fahey returned to rackets, winning the 2023 Ladies British Open in the absence of van der Zwalmen, who had since moved to Bordeaux.

Also in 2024, she earned the right to challenge van der Zwalmen for the World Championship title, having defeated Tara Lumley and Georgie Willis in the Eliminators.