If I wanted to find the World’s best racket player, how do you think I should go about it? I could ask Google. I just did, and the first page of suggestions was all about Tennis professionals. Current ATP Rankings came up top but then followed lots of websites discussing GOATs (Greatest of all Time) and how you might measure or compare GOATs. Apart from Ranking lists, it’s all very opinionated. I’m told that’s how websites work. Google uses special “algorithms” to see which websites are the most popular, that is, which websites are being viewed. And google then spits out it’s search result, which is basically google’s opinion of what’s the most popular. Apparently AI is better as it trawls more information to come up with its response. When I asked ChatGPT the same question it came up with answers for top tennis players and top badminton players based on the leading International Ranking systems. But first it told me it had to think about that for 4 seconds before stating “it depends on the sport”.
But I want to know, Who in the World can best wield a racket FULL STOP
I’ve thought about this long and hard and realised there is an absolute, non-opinionated way to answer this burning question. It’s really straight-forward and logical.
Simply put the World’s population into a knock out draw and get them to play all the racket sports against one another. If we eliminate the Loser each round, and the Winner goes through to the next round, we will eventually end up with Quarter Finals, Semi Finals and in the end, the last match would be the GRAND FINAL which would produce the outright Winner.
I asked AI what the population of the World is and its about 8.23 billion as of mid-July 2025. That means we only need 34 rounds of play to determine a single winner. That doesn’t sound too bad. That sounds possible. More likely, the difficulty would be in encouraging everyone to “have a go”. To find the World’s Best Racket Player – WARP from now on (World’s Absolute Racket Player) we could force everyone to compete, but that sounds rather Medieval or even Gladiatorial. With an ever increasing number of sports fashion wear hitting the high street, you might be surprised to hear that there are still large swathes of the population that don’t get sport and simply wouldn’t be seen wearing shorts (possibly black leggings – but never shorts). I’m afraid this competition would have to be entirely voluntary. Imagine the time wasted in “encouraging” unenthusiastic people to play! We’d have to get a move on as AI says the World’s population is growing at 70 million a year. OK – let’s stick with voluntary participation.
Next problem is which racket sports shall we include? A quick search of tinternet (I’m from Sheffld, UK) suggests there are approximately 40 unique racket sports. Some sources list them alphabetically and some by popularity (which is a fluid measure, and not always that reliable, reference Trump or Brexit or pickleball). Some of these Sports are very regional and so not well known. Take Quianball as an example. I’ve never heard of this but apparently its popular in China with a variant played by Danes too. It’s not that I’m against including unusual racket sports, especially when I’ve never played it or even seen it – it might be awesome?. It’s more the practical problems I’m facing trying to organise this World Racket Tournament. Now Tennis on the other hand – that’s a mainstream sport. But bejesus, how many times do I have to explain the serving sequence in a 10 point championship tie-break. No wonder tennis is perceived as a slow game – we spend several minutes sorting out who serves from where to whom – and that’s us, actual “tennis players” arguing about the serve sequence ! No, we will have to eliminate those racket sports from the 40+ list whose rules will take too long to explain to our voluntary competitors. We just won’t be able to do it quick enough – another million people will have been born!
In my quest to find my WAR Champion (Wielding A Racket Champion) I will also have to eliminate those racket sports that are team events, an example being Pelota Mixteca which needs 5 players per side. Apparently it’s played on a tennis court but without a net (so isn’t that just a bit of land then?) and instead of using a racket you use a colourful glove. So its not really a racket sport then either, is it? My WAR Champion would then have to be a WAG (Wielding A Glove Champion) and that acronym is already taken up.
I feel I’m being rather ruthless now as to find my GRIP (Greatest Racket Icon on Planet) I shall have to eliminate those sports that don’t have many courts available. I have trouble booking a Padel Court near me but ever tried booking a Real Tennis Court? Supposedly 50 courts worldwide and I imagine most of them have long membership waiting lists and steep joining fees. Sorry Real Tennis fans – that racket sport will have to be cut.
OK, so back to practicalities. We will let the armchair fans sit it out, we’ll lose the sports with difficult to grasp rules, we will drop the team sports and keep it a singles event and concentrate on the sports that have court availability, which logically means the most popular racket sports. Lets take the World’s current, top 4, most popular racket sports – Pickleball, Pickleball, Pickleball, Pickleball.
Joke.
Seriously, pickleball fans, that is a joke !
To find our B.L.A.D.E. (Best Legendary Athlete Dominating Everywhere) let’s choose the 4 traditional racket sports of Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis and Squash. The court infrastructure is good for these, the rules are straight forward (forget what I said about tie-break scoring in tennis). Oh and which lines are in or out in badminton? oh and what’s a let or stroke in squash? oh and who serves after who in Table Tennis? But ignoring those nuances let’s stick with that set.
Coincidentally, in researching for this well written and factual article I came across Racketlon as one of the world’s 40 racket sports. It has a World Federation, the FIR – Federation of International Racketlon and it runs a World Championship every year. This year it is being held in the grand Victoria Sports Park in Rotterdam in July and August. Over 600 individuals from different countries have not been forced to enter but have willingly volunteered to be tested against like souls in competitive table tennis, badminton, squash and tennis. And what is great about this tournament is that entry is not restricted. No pre-qualification or ranking or status is needed. Just the courage of action to get on 4 different courts and let the racket do the talking.
Practically. Logically. This is the best way to find our W.R.A.T.H. – Wielder of Rackets At The Highest-level. And I’m off the hook. I don’t have to do any organising or sorting. This is the best way, and the FIR are already doing it and have been doing it successfully for years.
And although I may joke a little, mainly about a Pickleball, I am a serious guy. I’m not joking about this… some past winners feel they are imposters with their World Championship Medals. But remember – the World Championships are open to everyone. They are inclusive. If you win a medal you absolutely deserve it – you didn’t make the rules or vet the entrants. You entered and you played and you won. Well done you and well done all you competitors who rise from the armchair and allow to be measured against the World’s best.
Simon Lau
