 | |||||||||
| Full name | Dorothea Katherine Douglass Lambert Chambers | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country (sports) |  United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Born | (1878-09-03)3 September 1878 | ||||||||
| 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
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Dorothea Lambert Chambers (néeDorothea Katherine Douglass; 3 September 1878 – 7 January 1960)[1][2] was a Britishtennis player. She won sevenWimbledon women's singles titles and a gold medal at the1908 Summer Olympics.[3]
In 1900, Douglass made her singles debut atWimbledon, and after a bye in the first round, she lost her second-round match toLouisa 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.[4][5]
In 1908, she won the gold medal in thewomen's singles event at the1908 Summer Olympics after a straight-sets victory in the final against compatriotDora Boothby.[6]
She wroteTennis for Ladies, published in 1910. The book contained photographs of tennis techniques and contained advice on attire and equipment.[citation needed]
In 1911, Lambert Chambers won the women's final at Wimbledon againstDora Boothby 6–0, 6–0, the first player to win aGrand Slam singles final without losing a game.[7] This feat was repeated bySteffi Graf when she defeatedNatalia Zvereva in the1988 French Open final[8] and then repeated byIga Swiatek in the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles final when she beatAmanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0 in 57 minutes.[9]
In 1919, Lambert Chambers played the longest Wimbledon final up to that time: 44 games against FrenchwomanSuzanne 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.[10]
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,[11] and from 1924 to 1926, she captained Britain'sWightman Cup team. In the1925 Wightman Cup, she played, at the age of 46, a singles (againstEleanor Goss) and doubles match and won both.[12][13] In 1928 she turned to professional coaching.
Lambert Chambers was posthumously inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981.[14] She died in Kensington, London in 1960, aged 81.
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Opponents | 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 |
* This was the all-comers final asMuriel 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.
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1913 | Wimbledon | Grass | Charlotte Cooper Sterry | Dora BoothbyWinifred 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 |
| Result | Year | Championship | Surface | Partner | Opponents | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 1919 | Wimbledon | Grass | Albert Prebble | Elizabeth RyanRandolph Lycett | 0–6, 0–6 |
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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 theAll England Badminton Championships.[15]
She undertook war work during the First World War, first at Ealing Hospital and later at the Little Theatre.[16] She married Robert Lambert Chambers, nephew ofJohn Graham Chambers.
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