Ben Taylor-Matthews (born 27 July 1984) is a professional British

Real Tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

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 four Champions Trophy finals. He unsuccessfully challenged for the

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on three occasions, most recently in

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. He is due to challenge again for the World Championship in

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

Career

Taylor-Matthews began his real tennis career as a trainee professional at the Hyde Real Tennis Club in

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. He quickly rose through the ranks of the game, dropping his handicap below 20.0 in 2004. He played his first top-level tournament at the 2004 IRTPA Championships at

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, defeating

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in qualifying, but losing to Ricardo Smith in the first round. In 2006, he moved to the Royal Tennis Court at

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to play as the Assistant Professional under former World Champion Camden Riviere, and later under Nick Wood. Taylor-Matthews's tennis continued to improve through the 2005 season, progressing through qualifying at the British Open to his first main draw Open match which he lost to Peter Paterson from

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. He won the Category B Championships in 2006, bringing his handicap into single figures for the first time. He won his first Open match at the 2006 French Open against Josh Bainton in 5 sets. By the 2009 season, Taylor-Matthews won the Category A Championships in

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and reached the quarter final stage at three of the four Open championships that year. His breakout season continued at the 2009 IRTPA Championships at

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, reaching the final for the first time losing to

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Robert Fahey Robert Leo Fahey (born 30 April 1968, in Hobart, Tasmania), 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 ...

. This started an eight-year run where Taylor-Matthews progressed to at least the quarter final stage at all major competitions, broken only at the

2017 French Open The 2017 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 116th edition (87th as a Grand Slam) of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 28 May to 1 ...

against French champion Matthieu Sarlangue. In 2010, Taylor-Matthews won his first doubles Open title, partnering with then-doubles World Champion Steve Virgona to win the US Open, defeating Camden Riviere and Tim Chisholm in straight sets. In 2011, he partnered with 19-time British Amateur Champion Julian Snow in the

World Doubles Championship The World Doubles Championship, also known as the Hofmeister World Doubles (1982–1986) or the Fosters World Doubles (1987) for sponsorship purposes, was a non-ranking team snooker tournament held from 1982 to 1987 as the major event. History ...

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. After defeating Chris Chapman and

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in the semi final, Taylor-Matthews and Snow lost to

and Steve Virgona 5 sets to 0. By virtue of a run of semi final performances in a matter of months at the 2010 British Open, 2011 Australian Open and 2011 US Open, Taylor-Matthews qualified to challenge for the 2012 Real Tennis World Championship. Taylor-Matthews was drawn into a First Round Eliminator against

Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in Barons Court, West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "HSBC Championships" for spo ...

professional Bryn Sayers. The format for the match was to be the winner of three home-and-away best of 5 set matches. Taylor-Matthews opted to play his home match at Prested Tennis Club, which he won 3 sets to 1. However, he lost to Sayers in straight sets at the away match at Queen's, sending the fixture into a deciding third match, also held at Queen's due to Sayers' higher World Ranking. Sayers proved the victor again, 3 sets to 1, but would lose to eventual challenger Steve Virgona in the Final Eliminator. At the end of the 2012 season, Taylor-Matthews moved to a role as Senior Professional at Hatfield House Real Tennis Club in

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. Taylor-Matthews next highlight was reaching the final of the 2014 and 2016 Australian Opens, losing to

in straight sets on both occasions. Despite this, he missed qualification for the

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2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

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World Championships. At this time, he moved to take up the Head Professional role at the Leamington Tennis Court Club. His next breakthrough was at the

2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and m ...

, where he won the doubles competition with John Lumley, defeating Steve Virgona and Chris Chapman in the final in 5 sets. Singles titles would remain elusive, however, even though he was regularly reaching the semi final stages of most Opens. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, Taylor-Matthews qualified to challenge for the Singles World Championship for the second time based on his results across the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Drawn as the third seed, Taylor-Matthews played against second seed Chris Chapman in the first round eliminator, played as a best of 9 set match across two days at Chapman's home court in

. After the first day, the match was tied at 2 sets all. Starting the second day, the players exchanged sets a third time before Chapman took the final two sets to win the match. Chapman would go on to lose to eventual Champion Camden Riviere in the Final Eliminator. Due to the

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, the final would eventually be played in 2022, even though the Eliminators took place in 2020. During the Eliminator process and subsequent pandemic, Taylor-Matthews started a real tennis themed podcast with fellow player Robert Shenkman called "A View From the Hazards". He moved to become head professional at Bristol Real Tennis Club in 2022. When play resumed, Taylor-Matthews reached the final of the

British Open The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...

for the first time, losing to John Lumley. He also reached the final of the

Champions Trophy The ICC Champions Trophy, formerly known as the ICC Knock Out Trophy, is an international One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) contested by international men's teams. Inaugurat ...

for the second time in 2022, losing to Fahey. Taylor-Matthews would again qualify for the World Championship Eliminators in

. This time he was second seed, but he failed to beat the bid to host the First Round Eliminator to third seed Nick Howell, so the best of 9 set match was hosted at Howell's home club at Aiken. In front of a boisterous crowd, the first three sets of the match were very tight 5-all sets, with Howell ultimately leading after the first day 3 sets to 1. Taylor-Matthews rallied to win the first set of the second day, but couldn't bring it back far enough with Howell winning the final two sets and the match. Howell will go on to lose to John Lumley in the Final Eliminator. 2023 did bring Taylor-Matthews success on the doubles court, winning the

French Open The French Open (), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a tennis tournament organized by the French Tennis Federation annually at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. It is chronologically the second of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam ...

with Steve Virgona, as well as the final of the US Open. 2024 did not start as well, with a first round loss at the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

to Australian amateur Kieran Booth. Taylor-Matthews would win his first Singles competition since the 2009 Category A Championship at the 2024 Jesmond Dene Cup. By the middle of the year, he had recovered his form enough to reach a third consecutive

Final, losing to Nick Howell. He ended the year by reaching the semi final of the

, securing himself the third seed for the 2025 Eliminators. Taylor-Matthews started 2025 by reaching the semi final of the Australian Open, losing in an upset result to Kieran Booth. He reached the doubles final playing with

, losing to Camden Riviere and Chris Chapman in five sets.

Performance timeline

Singles

''Current through the 2025 Australian Open''

Doubles

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor-Matthews, Ben 1984 births Living people English real tennis players Place of birth missing (living people)