Steve Virgona is a professional real tennis

Real tennis

Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...

 player based in Philadelphia. He is currently ranked number two in the world and is a world doubles champion. Virgona's victories include the Australian Open in 2007, the British Pro and the US Open.

Career

Virgona started his career as a professional at the Ballarat

Ballarat, Victoria

Ballarat is a city in the state of Victoria, Australia, approximately west-north-west of the state capital Melbourne situated on the lower plains of the Great Dividing Range and the Yarrowee River catchment. It is the largest inland centre and third most populous city in the state and the fifth...

 real tennis club before moving to Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

 at the age of 18. Steve gained much success early by playing doubles, and reaching the final of the British Open in 2001. Virgona worked as a professional in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, primarily at the Burroughs club, before moving back to Melbourne in 2004. After securing a position in Philadelphia in 2006, Virgona's tennis improved markedly and his ranking rose to world number 2. He defeated world champion Robert Fahey

Robert Fahey

Robert Fahey is an Australian real tennis player.On 27 April 2006, at the Oratory Tennis Club in Woodcote, South Oxfordshire, he matched the great Pierre Etchebaster's feat of seven consecutive defenses of the real tennis singles World Championship, which he has held since 1994...

 twice in 2006, but lost his world championship campaign to Tim Chisholm

Tim Chisholm

Tim Chisholm is a semi-retired American real tennis player. Tim is currently Racquets Director at The Tuxedo Club in Tuxedo Park, New York. A former lawn tennis player, Chisholm switched to the original game of tennis around the year 2000...

 that year. Steve's tennis continued to improve, winning the Australian Open, and entered the 2008 world championships as his favourite to challenge Fahey. He lost narrowly to Camden Riviere

Camden Riviere

Camden Riviere is an American left-handed real tennis player. As of February 2010, he is ranked second in the world for the sport. In March 2007, paired with Tim Chisholm, he unsuccessfully challenged the reigning world doubles champions, Robert Fahey and Steve Virgona...

in the final eliminator, and got revenge soon after in the US open.If Steve wins the British open it takes him to Number 1.

Sources

• http://www.irtpa.com/index.php/realtennis/world_more/final_eliminator_match_coverage/