Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers

Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass, 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960)[1] was a British tennis player. She won seven Wimbledon Women's Singles titles and a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Dorothea Lambert Chambers
Full nameDorothea Katherine Douglass Lambert Chambers
Country (sports) United Kingdom
Born(1878-09-03)3 September 1878
Ealing, Middlesex, England
Died7 January 1960(1960-01-07) (aged 81)
Kensington, London, England
Int. Tennis HoF1981 (member page)
Singles
Grand Slam Singles results
WimbledonW (1903, 1904, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914)
US OpenQF (1925)
Doubles
Grand Slam Doubles results
WimbledonF (1913, 1919, 1920)
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
WimbledonF (1919)
Team competitions
Wightman CupW (1925)
Medal record
Olympic Games – Tennis
1908 London Singles

Tennis

In 1900 Douglass made her singles debut at Wimbledon and, after a bye in the first round, lost her second round match to Louisa Martin. Three years later, she won her first of seven ladies singles titles. On 6 April 1907 she married Robert Lambert Chambers and was thereafter known by her married surname Lambert Chambers.[2][3]

In 1908 she won the gold medal in the women's singles event at the 1908 Summer Olympics after a straight-sets victory in the final against compatriot Dora Boothby.[4]

She wrote Tennis for Ladies, which was published in 1910. The book contained photographs of tennis techniques and contained advice on attire and equipment.

In 1911 Lambert Chambers won the women's final at Wimbledon against Dora Boothby 6–0, 6–0, the first player to win a Grand Slam singles final without losing a game.[5] The only other female player to achieve this was Steffi Graf when she defeated Natalia Zvereva in the 1988 French Open final.[6]

In 1919 Lambert Chambers played the longest Wimbledon final up to that time: 44 games against Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen. Lambert Chambers held two match points at 6–5 in the third set but eventually lost to Lenglen 8–10, 6–4, 7–9.[7]

Lambert Chambers only played sporadic singles after 1921 but continued to compete in doubles until 1927. She made the singles quarter-finals of the US Open in 1925[8] and, from 1924 to 1926, she captained Britain's Wightman Cup team. In the 1925 Wightman Cup edition she played, at the age of 46, a singles (against Eleanor Goss) and doubles match and won both.[9][10] In 1928 she turned to professional coaching.

Lambert Chambers was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.[11] She died in Kensington, London.

Grand Slam finals
Dorothea Lambert Chambers in 1906

Singles: 11 (7 titles, 4 runner-ups)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponents Score
Win *1903WimbledonGrass Ethel Thomson4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win1904Wimbledon (2)Grass Charlotte Cooper Sterry6–0, 6–3
Loss1905WimbledonGrass May Sutton3–6, 4–6
Win1906Wimbledon (3)Grass May Sutton6–3, 9–7
Loss1907WimbledonGrass May Sutton1–6, 4–6
Win1910Wimbledon (4)Grass Dora Boothby6–2, 6–2
Win1911Wimbledon (5)Grass Dora Boothby6–0, 6–0
Win **1913Wimbledon (6)Grass Winifred McNair6–0, 6–4
Win1914Wimbledon (7)Grass Ethel Thomson Larcombe7–5, 6–4
Loss1919WimbledonGrass Suzanne Lenglen8–10, 6–4, 7–9
Loss1920WimbledonGrass Suzanne Lenglen3–6, 0–6

* This was the all-comers final as Muriel Robb did not defend her 1902 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1903 by walkover.
** This was the all-comers final as Ethel Thomson Larcombe did not defend her 1912 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1913 by walkover.

Doubles: 3 runner-ups
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1913WimbledonGrass Charlotte Cooper Sterry Dora Boothby
Winifred McNair		6–4, 4–2, retired
Loss1919WimbledonGrass Ethel Thomson Larcombe Suzanne Lenglen
Elizabeth Ryan		6–4, 5–7, 3–6
Loss1920WimbledonGrass Ethel Thomson Larcombe Suzanne Lenglen
Elizabeth Ryan		4–6, 0–6

Mixed doubles: 1 runner-up
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1919WimbledonGrass Albertem Prebble Elizabeth Ryan
Randolph Lycett		0–6, 0–6

Badminton

In addition to playing tennis Lambert Chambers was one of the leading badminton players at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1903, 1904 and 1907 she was the runner-up at the singles event of the All England Badminton Championships.[12]

Personal life

During the First World War she undertook war work, first at Ealing Hospital, and later at the Little Theatre.[13]

References
  1. Grasso, John (16 September 2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Scarecrow Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8108-7237-0.
  2. Hartley, Cathy, ed. (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women (Rev. ed.). London [u.a.]: Europa Publications. p. 194. ISBN 978-1857432282.
  3. "Men and Matters". Dundee Courier. 8 April 1907. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  5. Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
  6. ROBIN HERMAN (5 June 1988). "TENNIS – Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  7. "Ladies' Lawn Tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 June 1911. p. 7 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Encyclopædia Britannica Biography". Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  9. "British Women in Tennis Victories". The Montreal Gazette. 18 August 1925 – via Google News Archive.
  10. "Woman at Tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 August 1925 – via Google News Archive.
  11. "Hall of Famers – Dorothea Douglass Chambers". www.tennisfame.com. International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  12. "Mrs Lambert Chambers". Badminton England. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  13. The Sportswoman's Page, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, December 22, 1917, p508
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