Dorothea Douglass

Dorothea Lambert Chambers (née 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.

Tennis In 1900, Douglass made her singles debut at Wimbledon, 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 1908 Summer Olympics 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 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. To date, this feat was repeated only two more times in over 115 years of grand slam history, by Steffi Graf when she defeated Natalia Zvereva in the 1988 French Open final and then by Iga Swiatek in the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles final when she beat Amanda Anisimova 6–0, 6–0 in 57 minutes.

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 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 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 ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1913 Wimbledon Grass Charlotte Cooper Sterry Dora Boothby Winifred McNair 6–4, 4–2, ret.Loss 1919 Wimbledon Grass Ethel Thomson Larcombe Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan 6–4, 5–7, 3–6Loss 1920 Wimbledon Grass Ethel Thomson Larcombe Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan 4–6, 0–6

Mixed doubles: 1 runner-up ResultYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss 1919 Wimbledon Grass Albert Prebble Elizabeth Ryan Randolph Lycett 0–6, 0–6

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. She married Robert Lambert Chambers, nephew of John Graham Chambers.