Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née Dorothea Katherine Douglass; 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960) was a British

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player. She won seven

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

women's singles titles and a gold medal at the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were originally schedu ...

Tennis

In 1900, Douglass made her singles debut at

, and after a bye in the first round, she lost her second-round match to

Louisa Martin Mary Louisa "Mollie" Martin (3 September 1865 – 24 October 1941) was a tennis player from Ireland. She was considered the leading Irish female player of her time. She was active from 1884 to 1908 and contested 35 career singles finals, and won ...

. She won her first of seven ladies' singles titles three years later. On 6 April 1907, she married Robert Lambert Chambers and became known by her married surname Lambert Chambers. In 1908, she won the gold medal in the women's singles event at the

after a straight-sets victory in the final against compatriot

Dora Boothby Penelope Dora Harvey Boothby (2 August 1881 – 22 February 1970) was an English tennis and badminton player. She was born in Finchley, Middlesex. She is best remembered for her ladies' singles title at the 1909 Wimbledon Championships. In Badmi ...

. She wrote ''Tennis for Ladies'', 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

6–0, 6–0, the first player to win a

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

singles final without losing a game. The only other female player to achieve this was

Steffi Graf Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...

when she defeated

Natalia Zvereva Natalya "Natasha" Maratovna Zvereva (born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus. She was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings. Zver ...

in the

1988 French Open The 1988 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 87th staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...

final. In 1919, Lambert Chambers played the longest Wimbledon final up to that time: 44 games against Frenchwoman

Suzanne Lenglen Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...

. 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 quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships in 1925, and from 1924 to 1926, she captained Britain's

Wightman Cup The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain. History U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generat ...

team. In the

1925 Wightman Cup The 1925 Wightman Cup was the third edition of the Wightman Cup, the annual women's team tennis competition between the United States and Great Britain. It was held at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York, United States. Great Bri ...

, she played, at the age of 46, a singles (against

Eleanor Goss Eleanor Goss (November 18, 1895 – November 6, 1982) was an American tennis player of the inter-war period. She first drew attention in tennis by winning titles as a student at Wellesley College. She won the US Women's National Championship i ...

) and doubles match and won both. In 1928 she turned to professional coaching. Lambert Chambers was posthumously inducted into the

International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, 13 grass tennis courts, an ...

in 1981. She died in Kensington, London in 1960, aged 81.

Grand Slam finals

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

^* This was the all-comers final as

Muriel Robb Muriel Evelyn Robb (13 May 1878 – 12 February 1907) was an English female tennis player. She is best remembered for her ladies' singles title at the 1902 Wimbledon Championships. She also won the Irish and Scottish singles titles in 1901 an ...

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

Mixed doubles: 1 runner-up

Career finals

Singles titles (64)

:''Notes: Incomplete list she reportedly won 81 singles titles''.

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 The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premi ...

Personal life

She undertook war work during the First World War, first at Ealing Hospital and later at the Little Theatre.The Sportswoman's Page, ''The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'', 22 December 1917, p. 508 She married Robert Lambert Chambers, nephew of

John Graham Chambers John Graham Chambers (12 February 1843 – 4 March 1883) was a Welsh sportsman. He rowed for Cambridge, founded inter-varsity sports, became English Champion walker, coached four winning Boat-Race crews, devised the Queensberry Rules, staged t ...

References

External links

*
Book ''Lawn Tennis for Ladies'' at Archive.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert Chambers, Dorothea 1878 births 1960 deaths 19th-century female tennis players 19th-century English sportswomen English female tennis players British female tennis players English female badminton players English Olympic competitors Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic tennis players for Great Britain People from Ealing Tennis players from the London Borough of Ealing International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Tennis players at the 1908 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Olympic medalists in tennis Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics Tennis writers 20th-century English sportswomen