Claire Fahey is an extraordinary trailblazer in the world of real tennis and rackets. With over 40 Open singles titles, six Grand Slam completions, and a record seven Ladies World Championships, her impact on the sport is really unique. In 2017, she became the first player—male or female—to achieve the remarkable feat of winning all four singles Opens, all four Doubles Opens, and both the Ladies singles and doubles World Championships in a single calendar year. She is also known as the first woman to compete in three Men's Open main draws and to reach a semi-final. Currently, Claire has taken up the Head of Racquets and Games coach position and re-energized the club at The Oratory School in Berkshire, which is one of four schools in the United Kingdom with a real tennis court, and that hosts championships and international tournaments. In this episode of Martial Attitude Voice, world champion real tennis player Claire Fahey opens up about the relentless drive, pressures, and confidence that have defined her career. Claire shares how her journey has been a balance of short-term goals, intense training, and respect for the unpredictability of real tennis. From reigning titles to her preparation for the Ladies Real Tennis World Championships in 2025, she reveals her relationship with pressure and how embracing it has become both a responsibility and honour. Dive into a compelling conversation about resilience, mental strength, and the intricate dynamics of a life dedicated to high-performance sport, where every challenge on the court reflects lessons in life beyond it.
Mathias Alberton (00:01.268)
Hello everyone, this is Mathias Alberton. I am a trainee Sport Psychologist based in London. I'm the creator of Martial Attitude. This is Martial Attitude Voice. Also, of course, as you know, I am creating a training program for visually impaired and blind people that I developed in the last few years. And I am implementing workshops every weekend in central London. So if you are blind or visually impaired or you know someone who is and is interested to take part, please, you know, as usual, you keep in touch. In the last few episodes, we actually have dwelt quite interestingly in an incredible sport, which is real tennis or court tennis, as the Americans call it. It's very niche in a way, because it's not so, let's say, broadcasted and popular as long tennis or the regular tennis. But we did have the opportunity to speak with incredible champions in the sport. I have been so lucky to reach out for actually the number one world player as a female player. She is Claire Fahey. is an extraordinary player in the world of real tennis and rackets with over 40 open single titles, six Grand Slam competitions and a record seven ladies world championships. Her impact in the sport is really kind of unique. In 2017, she became the first player, male or female, to achieve the remarkable feat of winning all four single opens, all four double opens, and both the ladies' singles and doubles were championships in a single calendar year. She is also known as the first woman to compete in three men's open men's draws and to reach semi-final. Currently, Claire has taken up the head of rackets and games coach position and re-energized the club at the Oratory School in Berkshire, which is one of the four schools in the United Kingdom with a real tennis court. This one was built in 1990, after 80 years since the last one was built in the whole United Kingdom. And the court and the school host championships and the international tournaments. Claire, good morning. Thank you very much for being on the podcast. How do you do?
Claire Fahey (02:21.396)
Very well, thank you. Yes, good morning. Thank you for inviting me and for the very, very generous warm welcome.
Mathias Alberton (02:28.076)
It's just, you know, the data on you are so overwhelmingly, it's difficult to select what to say. honestly, how do you feel to listen to all the things that you have done throughout your career?
Claire Fahey (02:50.954)
I mean, it's certainly nice. It's not something I would particularly think about on a day-to-day basis. But when you do hear an introduction as kind as that, it is nice to put into a bit of perspective the things that you have dreamed about and trained so hard from a young age. It is nice to, just nice to remember those things.
Mathias Alberton (03:13.821)
Well, this gives me a very good point where to start in this conversation. Of course, I might have an interested in a spoke psychology perspective, but nevertheless, when you listen to your achievement, do you recognize yourself in them right now? Or is something that comes a bit new kind of, actually I wanted to do something else, but yeah, by the way, I've done this as well.
Claire Fahey (03:43.785)
I think for me, all those goals that I've set out to achieve and I kind of set myself challenges, I suppose, in that sense, once they've happened, I'm quite driven to move on to the next one. So although there are times where I'll go, perhaps it's a world championship, so it's a slam or it's a grand slam, for me, it's in the moment and then there's always something else. I've never been someone to go, yes, but this is what I have done, I've looked back at this. I tend to only look forward. So it is really nice on the rare occasion that I will kind of sit back and say, actually, the titles I've won and the, I suppose, the dominance over the last coming up 15 years is something I'll look back with and smile.
Mathias Alberton (04:38.644)
This is in perspective, let's say, looking backwards. But do you reckon then you just moved from one goal to another one achieving and then now you have collected, let's say, a number of achievements or you did have already a long term goal. So you were seen back then 15 years ago already as someone in the sport.
Claire Fahey (05:06.735)
I think for me it's always been one goal at a time rather than how long can you go for or what I suppose is an endless goal. It's always been one and whether that was an open title, defending the open title, challenging myself against male competitors in the opens where I can now compete alongside the men. They have always been...
of immediate goals of mine and so it's not a case of saying okay I want to obviously you'd like to go say one better you know always get one more one more win or one more victory but in a sense there's never been this kind of long distance look into the future of saying what can I do at the end of my career it's very much been what am I working towards right now and and some of those things have been successful and some I'm still working on.
Mathias Alberton (06:09.15)
Well, the first question would be natural to ask you what's the next goal now.
Claire Fahey (06:16.605)
So the next goal for me really is the Ladies Real Tennis World Championships singles and doubles. That's held every two years and I suppose that is the absolute pinnacle of our sport and I'm very lucky and very honoured to be in the current reigning world champion and so that comes with that as huge responsibility but also the pressure to retain and certainly to keep a high standard. So that will happen in June 2025 in Newport, Rhode Island in America. this whole season, win, lose, all the work on and off the court will be towards these two events happening in America.
Mathias Alberton (07:08.532)
Well, I watched a bit of interviews with you and you have stated that in the moment of the game, at least in that interview, that you were working best where you were actually under pressure. Now, you have mentioned the goal of retaining the title, for instance. Do you think that the pressure is different when you are chased? Or when you are actually in the moment and you are trying to defeat the opponent with whatever means, how is your relationship with pressure and how pressure is important to you right now looking forward to your next goal?
Claire Fahey (07:56.587)
Yeah, I think pressure is important and it's almost a, you know, only through experience and training can you understand how best to deal with that pressure. And there's plenty of examples of that where pressure can almost put you in concrete boots and your legs and arms aren't doing what they should do and what you're trained to do. And so I think once you've kind of almost experienced that, and I was lucky enough in a sense to experience that quite young that you have all this experience to pull upon that you have trained yourself in a way to play your best under that pressure which can often go the right way. It can obviously get too much and it's part of management and I say that's probably where the kind of training for it can happen. But to me, pressure, it's about playing in those moments and that will separate you from a good player to a great player. And it comes down to, you know, one, two, three points across a cross-show match, which can change, can change everything. And I think you'll find the greats in our game, always come out on top in those moments. And so although it might not happen, know, absolutely 10 times out of 10, you are backing yourself. But I also find the pressure, although there's a lot of pressure in retaining a title, I suppose my approach to it is it is my honour to have that pressure. And in a sense, if you don't enjoy pressure then perhaps this lead in a sport is not for you. think sport comes hand in hand with pressure and although as a, I suppose let's say, someone chasing you has less pressure, right? So you go out there as top seed and someone comes across you and there's no pressure whatsoever on their result. They have like a free swing so good, bad and the ugly they can only do well because they can you know they're expected to lose and so actually their results can only be a positive one I actually think there's a lot of pressure in those crux moments on the person chasing and so it's a bit of confidence to have at that stage to remind yourself of the pressure that the other person is feeling and then you know as I said before the training and experience kicks in to accept that honour and hopefully it goes in your favour.
Mathias Alberton (11:12.276)
And you just mentioned confidence. You need to remind yourself with a bit of confidence what it is to be under pressure and how to overcome it. Confidence for you, what is it?
Claire Fahey (11:27.518)
Confidence for me is making sure you know that when you step onto court that is your world. And that comes from all the hours, all the individual hours, all the anti-social hours, all the hours where you'd rather be doing something else but you're not. That to me is the confidence. And whether or not those training sessions have gone well, or whether you feel like you've got anything out of it, because you've gone in and put those hours in, that is my confidence. That's what it means to me. you know, those are the hours that no one else will experience. Not in the same way, they're very personal to me. And to an extent, no one will recognise that. You know, it's totally intangible. But psychologically for me, that's a huge part of confidence.
Mathias Alberton (12:29.524)
I have so many questions as you speak, new questions come into my mind. But there is a book I read a time ago, which is Endure, Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Hutchinson. And if I don't remember wrong, it is in that book, he makes the point that training with tribal runners. Actually, no, there were no tribal runners. I think it was somewhere in South America. I can't remember right now exactly the spot at the moment in the book. But the point is that it was confronted by these guys running at the limits of their possibilities, no matter what, in whatever occasion, going against the idea of training towards a competition. So training like, you know, I save it for now because then I need it in competition. No, it doesn't matter. I just do my best. It doesn't matter what because in my will be that today I really hit something. I'm really on to something. And if I don't write that, I don't have that kind of mindset. I will never express it as opposed to what you just said, that you recognize that some trainings go well, some others do not go so well. And of course, there is this idea that there is a 30 % rule, kind of, you know, one, a third of them go very well, as you expect, a third of them goes very badly, and a third of them, they just go so-so. So you need to retain the 30 % as the best part, knowing that there is a physiological 70 % of chances that is not exactly going by the plan. how do you position yourself across to these different ideas? So you always go all in, or for instance, in training, you do respect this, let's say, 30 % rule or method or idea.
Claire Fahey (14:49.014)
Yeah, for me, it has to be kind of almost on that 30 % rule in a sport like real tennis where you are learning, you know, I'm still learning so many different ideas or techniques or changes to certain shots that you have to accept that you're not going to come off court every time being like, well, that was a great session. You're going to come off course. I worked hard, but it was terrible. Or, you know, I worked hard, but actually I'm not sure that plan works. And I just think with a game like ours and the nature of the roofs and the walls and the funny bounces the balls can take, you know, there's so many different outcomes and that's what you're training for. there's an infinite number of different options of different shots and you have to select that best one. So in your training, you have to put into practice stuff that isn't, I suppose, so linear. And like I said, you've to go through those hours of that, you know, that was a completely not pointless hour, but it wasn't, it didn't go as I planned. But that comes from the, you know, the 10,000 practice hours. If you want to be, if you want to be very good. And yeah, so I think you can still give 100%. But it doesn't mean that the outcome of it necessarily is that 100 % success rate or 100 % pushing your body to the limit. Again, niche to real tennis, you're running around on a concrete floor. know, physically, I think that would be incredibly demanding to then push your body to the absolute limits. So I do also respect the idea of training incredibly hard, whether that is on the court or in the gym, but also having that physical body management, especially if you want longevity in the game. Yeah, and to be able to then find those extra extra miles when it counts.
Mathias Alberton (17:01.788)
Also, as you were talking, I was thinking that, well, maybe another way to put it is to account for, you know, that the uncontrollables, let's say. So when we're talking about running, for instance, yes, of course, there is the wind, there is the heat, there is the altitude in some cases, but most of runners, normally run a lifetime in average situation conditions. Instead, let's say, court tennis or real tennis is a bloody nightmare in terms of uncontrollables. So... In a way, the uncontrollables are part of the tactics of the game, but on the other side, you just have to know that they can work well against you. So to work at your extreme best all the time might be just not suitable because there are too many uncontrollables to account for. Maybe is that right?
Claire Fahey (18:09.981)
Yes, yes. there's, you know, different, different shots, different bounces, different decisions, all of these things you're having to train and put hours into. it's, as I said, it's not such a straight line as perhaps running is in those average conditions and you push your body as hard as you can. There's thousands of different things you're having to think about and then train out there. So, yeah, it's complicated and then that brings it back to why you couldn't necessarily say I'm going to the tank here and leave everything out there every time we go into a training session.
Mathias Alberton (18:52.368)
And another thing that I was thinking about when you were talking about pressure before is that, you if you are, you were saying something like, you know, if you're not up for pressure, maybe you have to think it over in terms of be competitive in this sport. But I also thought about you as a human being outside of the sport and you have done in the numbers amount of things. mean, family wise, you have two children. You did have at least two comes back one per child plus you have been unwell for a certain amount of time. So you also stopped there and you came back to the sport. Plus now you have a position in a super elite school in the UK and I believe there might be a very tight schedule there as well. So it's not that you are exactly new to pressure or you conducted life that is out of pressure outside of the court. Do you think that I don't want to put it into a gender thing, but do you think that women generally speaking do have an advantage in coping with pressure because they are very much, let's say, exposed to family pressures as opposed to men.
Claire Fahey (20:18.034)
That's a good question. That's a great question. mean, my husband would probably disagree and say, there's an awful lot of pressure that goes on. I'm sure every family has their own balance, et cetera. But I think certainly when you throw two small children into the mix, and a school timetable into two people who are training hard and trying to be the very best at their sport, you're forced into that pressure. And that pressure might just be making sure everyone gets to where they're supposed to be on time and making sure the bags are packed and the right food's in stock, et cetera. So in a sense, yes, we then live our life in this constant level of pressure, which comes down to probably really time management and being organised and that is probably a trait I've always had because I think if you want to manage anything and you want to also have this career which takes an awful lot of time and commitment then there needs to be a certain level of management. Whether or not that comes down to whether it's female or male but I think once you've gone through having to say... balance two little ones whilst trying to fit in your training and your travelling. That's a new level of pressure.
Mathias Alberton (22:10.426)
And this makes me think as well to another aspect of sport psychology in which I am very interested in is, let's say, the idea of transitions. So, you know, there are different phases of transitioning and it's not just transitioning out of the sport once your career is over. But for instance, in and out of the sport, competitively as for the birth of two children in two different times, not then being twins, saying that way, or taking care of yourself for your health and then come back after recovering. thinking about these transitions in and out of the sport because of different situations in life. What do you reckon was the hardest? Was the hardest to recognize that you need to go out? It was difficult to stay out or it was more difficult to come back?
Claire Fahey (23:21.741)
Goodness, I suppose I think for me all those scenarios have slightly different elements and no two were the same in how I responded or how I prepared for that. For our first child, daughter Sophie, I think I was playing tennis right up until two weeks before having her. And then I was back playing tennis two weeks after having her, which in hindsight now was through sheer stubbornness that the idea of stopping wasn't really on my radar and I was going to do everything I could to... I know it wasn't back to full training and full competing, but I was back on court probably a bit sooner than that I should have been because I wasn't ready to stop. I wasn't really ready to go and say, you know, I'm going to have this big gap. And then with with Freddie, our second a couple of years later, I was very much ready for that gap just in terms of a break and different scenario. But having already done it once with Sophie, the recovery and the time management, then having a little one, I was more comfortable with having the break. was, you know, it's actually quite unnerving when you've spent your whole life around hours on the tennis court or hours in the gym or preparing for your next match or your next tournament or your next piece of travel. When you don't have that, you can feel a little bit lost because that is your identity in a sense. And so... I was much more comfortable with the idea when Freddie came round and then of course unfortunately I got quite sick at the end of 2019 with a diagnosis of lupus, an autoimmune disease which put me out of action for a couple of months and in that time I didn't really know what the outcome was going to be. But I always have a really positive outlook on it because I think it just reminds you that tomorrow is never a given. And so if anything, ever since then, I've been probably more organized or busier I suppose than before to fit it all in and to use up all those hours in the day. So in that sense, tomorrow is never a given and so you have to use the hours in the day that you have to make the most of it. And so that's kind how I've lived my life ever since because that was an enforced break that I wasn't prepared for and that comes with all kinds of different emotions and uncertainties. So whilst we think we might have sport forever and we want our career to be as long as it possibly can do, you never know what potentially is in front of you. And so again, it just reaffirms all my short term, medium, long term goals where actually you just focus on one thing at a time, get yourself there, make sure you do it right and then move on to the next. But don't dwell too hard on things because there's lots of uncertainties along the way.
Mathias Alberton (01:02.42)
As I am aware of time, I wanted to ask you one last question. In your opinion, what is the most complex psychological issue or general attitude that you think really needs to be corrected when you find it in someone you are coaching?
Claire Fahey (01:26.861)
That's a great question. If I could give one piece of advice. I would say it is the individual time that you put towards it that will gain you that confidence that no one else can tap into and no one else, only you will know what that feels like. And a lot of that I think comes from when it's just you and not you and friends and not you and someone else and not you and a coach because there's always someone else there, you have to do it for yourself. And so I think we go back to that time on court and that kind of psychological confidence, which I think is, you you might be as as you possibly can be and have the physical confidence, but it's the psychological confidence I think that in those pressure moments will make all the difference.
Mathias Alberton (02:39.084)
Put it differently. So if you don't find something like this, kind of a need in someone that you're coaching, you said, well, look, you have to put your priorities straight is this kind of thing that you're saying.
Claire Fahey (02:55.78)
Yes, and if there was something that, you know, talk about correcting in someone, I would just say, especially in our sport, it would be about embracing all those unknowns and all the intricacies of the game and accepting it. And so when it comes down to one point and there's a lucky bounce or a big roll nick or a bottom ledge edge, you know, it is a part of the game. And so you have to accept it. You can't let that hold you back in any way or have an impact on the next match or the next game, whatever it may be ahead of you. But I think that is something out here, is specific to our sport, is the idea of just letting go of that uniform bounce or shot. Because it doesn't exist in real tennis.
Mathias Alberton (03:57.11)
Claire, thank you very much for being a guest on the Martial Attitude podcast. I really appreciated your time, your experience and your care to share your insights of the sport.
Claire Fahey (04:09.276)
Thank you very much for having me.
Mathias Alberton (04:11.614)
And thank you very much for all audience. I really hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you do have any questions for future episodes on upon real tennis, please let me know so I can note them down. And the next time I will certainly go through them. And as usual, I remind you that I'm conducting the training program for vision impaired and blind people every Sunday afternoon in central London. If you're blind or visually impaired or you know someone who is and is interested to participate as usual, you know it. You keep in touch.