Dorothea Lambert Chambers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Dorothea Lambert Chambers

Full name	Dorothea Katherine Douglass Lambert Chambers
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	(1878-09-03)3 September 1878 Ealing, Middlesex, England
Died	7 January 1960(1960-01-07) (aged 81) Kensington, London, England
Int. Tennis HoF	1981 (member page)
Singles
Grand Slam singles results
Wimbledon	W (1903, 1904, 1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914)
US Open	QF (1925)
Doubles
Grand Slam doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1913, 1919, 1920)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Wimbledon	F (1919)
Team competitions
Wightman Cup	W (1925)
Medal record Olympic Games – Tennis Gold 1908 London Singles

Dorothea Lambert Chambers (born Dorothea Katherine Douglass) was a famous British tennis player. She was born on September 3, 1878, and passed away on January 7, 1960. She won seven Wimbledon women's singles titles. She also earned a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.

Tennis Achievements

Dorothea started playing at Wimbledon in 1900. Three years later, in 1903, she won her first ladies' singles title there. On April 6, 1907, she married Robert Lambert Chambers and became known as Dorothea Lambert Chambers.

In 1908, she won a gold medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. She won the women's singles event by beating her fellow British player, Dora Boothby, in the final.

Dorothea also wrote a book called Tennis for Ladies, which came out in 1910. It had pictures showing tennis techniques and gave advice on what to wear and what equipment to use.

In 1911, Lambert Chambers achieved something amazing at Wimbledon. She won the women's final against Dora Boothby with a score of 6–0, 6–0. This meant she won without losing a single game! Only one other female player, Steffi Graf, has done this in a Grand Slam singles final since then.

In 1919, she played in the longest Wimbledon final up to that time. It was a tough match with 44 games against French player Suzanne Lenglen. Even though Lambert Chambers had two chances to win, she eventually lost the match.

After 1921, Lambert Chambers played singles less often. However, she continued to play in doubles matches until 1927. In 1925, she reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships in singles. From 1924 to 1926, she was the captain of Britain's Wightman Cup team. In the 1925 Wightman Cup, at 46 years old, she played and won both a singles and a doubles match. In 1928, she started working as a professional tennis coach.

Dorothea Lambert Chambers was honored after her death by being added to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981. She passed away in Kensington, London, in 1960, when she was 81 years old.

Grand Slam Finals

Dorothea Lambert Chambers in 1906

Singles Finals: 11 (7 Wins, 4 Runner-ups)

Dorothea Lambert Chambers played in 11 Grand Slam singles finals, winning 7 of them. All her finals were at Wimbledon.

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

^* In 1903, the winner of the "all-comers final" won Wimbledon because the previous champion, Muriel Robb, did not play to defend her title. ^** In 1913, the winner of the "all-comers final" won Wimbledon because the previous champion, Ethel Thomson Larcombe, did not play to defend her title.

Doubles Finals: 3 Runner-ups

Dorothea Lambert Chambers reached three Wimbledon doubles finals, but did not win any.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	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, 3–6
Loss	1920	Wimbledon	Grass	Ethel Thomson Larcombe	Suzanne Lenglen Elizabeth Ryan	4–6, 0–6

Mixed Doubles Finals: 1 Runner-up

Dorothea Lambert Chambers also reached one mixed doubles final at Wimbledon.

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1919	Wimbledon	Grass	Albert Prebble	Elizabeth Ryan Randolph Lycett	0–6, 0–6

Badminton Career

Besides tennis, Dorothea Lambert Chambers was also a top badminton player in the early 1900s. She was the runner-up in the singles event at the All England Badminton Championships in 1903, 1904, and 1907.

Personal Life

During the First World War, Dorothea helped with war efforts. She worked at Ealing Hospital and later at the Little Theatre. She was married to Robert Lambert Chambers.