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.[2]

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
Gold medal – first place 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 became known by her married surname Lambert Chambers.[3][4]

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.[5]

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.[6] The only other female player to achieve this was Steffi Graf when she defeated Natalia Zvereva in the 1988 French Open final.[7]

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.[8]

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,[9] 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.[10][11] In 1928 she turned to professional coaching.

Lambert Chambers posthumously was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.[12] She died in Kensington, London in January 1960.

Grand Slam finals
Dorothea Lambert Chambers in 1906

Singles: 11 (7 titles, 4 runner-ups)
Result Year Championship Surface Opponents Score
Win *1903WimbledonGrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Ethel Thomson4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win1904Wimbledon (2)GrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Charlotte Cooper Sterry6–0, 6–3
Loss1905WimbledonGrassUnited States May Sutton3–6, 4–6
Win1906Wimbledon (3)GrassUnited States May Sutton6–3, 9–7
Loss1907WimbledonGrassUnited States May Sutton1–6, 4–6
Win1910Wimbledon (4)GrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Dora Boothby6–2, 6–2
Win1911Wimbledon (5)GrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Dora Boothby6–0, 6–0
Win **1913Wimbledon (6)GrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Winifred McNair6–0, 6–4
Win1914Wimbledon (7)GrassUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Ethel Thomson Larcombe7–5, 6–4
Loss1919WimbledonGrassFrance Suzanne Lenglen8–10, 6–4, 7–9
Loss1920WimbledonGrassFrance 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
Loss1913WimbledonGrassUnited Kingdom Charlotte Cooper SterryUnited Kingdom Dora Boothby
United Kingdom Winifred McNair		6–4, 4–2, ret.
Loss1919WimbledonGrassUnited Kingdom Ethel Thomson LarcombeFrance Suzanne Lenglen
United States Elizabeth Ryan		6–4, 5–7, 3–6
Loss1920WimbledonGrassUnited Kingdom Ethel Thomson LarcombeFrance Suzanne Lenglen
United States Elizabeth Ryan		4–6, 0–6

Mixed doubles: 1 runner-up
Result Year Championship Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss1919WimbledonGrassUnited Kingdom Albert PrebbleUnited States Elizabeth Ryan
United Kingdom 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.[13]

Personal life

During the First World War, she undertook war work, first at Ealing Hospital, and later at the Little Theatre.[14] She married Robert Lambert Chambers, nephew of John Graham Chambers.

References
  1. Grasso, John (16 September 2011). Historical Dictionary of Tennis. Scarecrow Press. p. 87. ISBN 978-0-8108-7237-0.
  2. "Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  3. Hartley, Cathy, ed. (2003). A Historical Dictionary of British Women (Rev. ed.). London [u.a.]: Europa Publications. p. 194. ISBN 978-1857432282.
  4. "Men and Matters". Dundee Courier. 8 April 1907. p. 8 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  6. Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
  7. ROBIN HERMAN (5 June 1988). "TENNIS – Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  8. "Ladies' Lawn Tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 June 1911. p. 7 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Encyclopædia Britannica Biography". Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  10. "British Women in Tennis Victories". The Montreal Gazette. 18 August 1925 – via Google News Archive.
  11. "Woman at Tennis". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 August 1925 – via Google News Archive.
  12. "Hall of Famers – Dorothea Douglass Chambers". www.tennisfame.com. International Tennis Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015.
  13. "Mrs Lambert Chambers". Badminton England. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  14. The Sportswoman's Page, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 22 December 1917, p. 508
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