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. 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. 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 Dora Boothby 6–0, 6–0, the first player to win a Grand Slam 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 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 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 team. In the 1925 Wightman Cup, 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 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 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.

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.

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