Dorothea Douglass

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

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.

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.

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 only other female player who won a Grand Slam singles final without losing a game was Steffi Graf when she defeated Natalia Zvereva in the 1988 French Open final.

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.

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 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. In 1928 she turned to professional coaching.

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

Singles: 11 (7 titles, 4 runner-ups)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponents	Score
Winner *	1903	Wimbledon	Grass	Ethel Thomson	4-6, 6-4, 6-2
Winner	1904	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Charlotte Cooper Sterry	6-0, 6-3
Runner-up	1905	Wimbledon	Grass	May Sutton	3-6, 4-6
Winner	1906	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	May Sutton	6-3, 9-7
Runner-up	1907	Wimbledon	Grass	May Sutton	1-6, 4-6
Winner	1910	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Dora Boothby	6-2, 6-2
Winner	1911	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Dora Boothby	6-0, 6-0
Winner **	1913	Wimbledon (6)	Grass	Winifred McNair	6-0, 6-4
Winner	1914	Wimbledon (7)	Grass	Ethel Thomson Larcombe	7-5, 6-4
Runner-up	1919	Wimbledon	Grass	Suzanne Lenglen	8-10, 6-4, 7-9
Runner-up	1920	Wimbledon	Grass	Suzanne Lenglen	3-6, 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

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1913	Wimbledon	Grass	Charlotte Cooper Sterry	Dora Boothby Winifred McNair	6-4, 4-2, retired
Runner-up	1919	Wimbledon	Grass	Ethel Thomson Larcombe	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	6-4, 5-7, 3-6
Runner-up	1920	Wimbledon	Grass	Ethel Thomson Larcombe	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	4-6, 0-6

Mixed doubles: 1 runner-up

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Runner-up	1919	Wimbledon	Grass	Albertem Prebble	Elizabeth Ryan Randolph Lycett	0-6, 0-6

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.

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