A woman of all talents: How Lottie Dod became Wimbledon’s youngest ever singles champion when she triumphed aged just 15 in 1887, before going on to beat the best male players… and was a keen archer, skater AND tobogganist
- Dod remains Wimbledon’s youngest ever ladies’ singles champion
- She went on to win the title a further four times, in 1888, 1891, 1892 and 1893
- Retired from tennis in 1891 and triumphed in archery at the 1908 Olympics
- Latest Wimbledon 2023 news, including schedule, travel updates and results
Tennis fans are hoping that Katie Boulter could emulate Emma Raducanu’s success at the US open in 2021 by winning Wimbledon this year.
The 26-year-old is competing in the second round today after demolishing her Australian opponent in straight sets on Tuesday.
But both Boulter and Raducanu, who amazingly won her Grand Slam title when still an 18-year-old, would do well to look to the heroics of trailblazer Lottie Dod if they are ever struggling on the court.
Dod remains Wimbledon’s youngest ever singles champion after winning her first title at SW19 when she was just 15, on this day in 1887.
She went on to win the title a further four times and even went as far as challenging three of the best male tennis players of the day to contests, beating them all despite their confidence that they would win.
But Dod opted to retire from tennis at the age just 21 so she could take up sports including tobogganing, figure skating, golf, hockey and archery.
Lottie Dod remains Wimbledon’s youngest ever ladies’ singles champion after winning her first title at SW19 when she was just 15 in 1887
She went on to win the title a further four times and even went as far as challenging three of the best male tennis players of the day to contests, beating them all despite their confidence that they would win. Above: Dod playing doubles at a tournament in the 1880s
Born Charlotte Dod in Edgeworth, Cheshire, in 1871, she was lucky enough to have two parents who provided their daughter with the tools she needed to hone her craft.
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They built two tennis courts in their back garden, one had a hard surface and the other was grass.
In 1883, she paired with her older sister Ann and started entering doubles tournaments.
Her singles debut in 1885, when she was aged just 13, ended in victory for the precious teenager.
She made further waves the following year when she beat Maud Watson, who had won the first women’s title at Wimbledon in 1884.
Serving underarm, as was then customary for ladies, Dod was also initially able to use her age to her advantage, by getting away with wearing shorter length skirts than the ones that were then enforced for female players.
It meant she was able to move more easily around the court.
Her opponent in the Wimbledon final in 1887 was Blanche Bingley, who was noted for her ‘soft leather gauntlets and businesslike demeanour.’
The following year she triumphed again at Wimbledon, beating Blanche Hillyard.
But, as recounted in author Sasha Abramsky’s biography Little Wonder: The Extraordinary Story of Lottie Dod, The World’s First Female Sports Superstar, the player was not content with just beating members of her own sex.
After retiring from tennis at the age of just 21, Dod took up sports including figure skating. Above: Dod on the ice in Switzerland
Dod also took to archery and won a silver medal in the sport at the 1908 Olympics in London
Lottie and her brother Anthony are seen playing mixed doubles at Wimbledon
Lottie and Anthony Dod playing tennis at Edgeworth, from her family scrapbook
Lottie Dod playing an exhibition match at the Kulm hotel in St Moritz, Switzerland
Lottie Dod takes part in a tennis tournament in Manchester in June 1889
In 1888 she challenged three of the best male players of the day to singles matches.
Her first opponent, 26-year-old Ernest Renshaw, was officially the best player in the game at the time, as evidenced by his victory in the men’s singles at Wimbledon that summer.
Renshaw had also won four doubles titles at SW19 and would go on to win his fifth that summer.
Dod, now handicapped by an ankle-length dress and and a constricting corset, agreed to the men’s offer that she start each game with a 30-0 advantage.
After crushing him 6-2 in the first set, Dod, took the following two sets 7-5 to secure victory.
Next up was Scottish champion Harry Grove, who Dod comfortably beat 1-6, 6-0, 6-4.
Four days later she faced Ernest’s brother William, who was a six-time singles champion at Wimbledon. But she trounced him too, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Then, in 1893, having just won her fifth Wimbledon title, Dod opted to quit competitive tennis, amid a struggle with sciatica.
In the winter of 1896 she decided to tackle the infamous Cresta Run in Switzerland, defying the St Moritz Tobogganing club bosses who frowned on women taking part.
Hurtling at speeds of 70mph, Dod became the first woman to complete the run.
Lottie Dod was also a keen cyclist. She is seen second from right on her bike with Harold Topham, Elizabeth Main and Anthony Dod
Family photograph taken at Edgeworth in the early 1890s. Lottie Dod is front centre
Lottie Dod in her customary cap and dress in 1890. She won Wimbledon five times
That same winter, she turned her attentions to figure skating and then took up mountaineering the following year.
Hockey was another sport that she pursued with aplomb, to the extent that she played for England in 1899.
Then, in 1904, she became the British national ladies’ golf champion.
Her final sporting triumph came in 1908 at that year’s London Olympics, when she won a silver medal in archery.
Dod was one of just 44 women taking part among 2,000 men, one of whom was her brother William, who won gold in the men’s archery event.
Beyond sport, she volunteered as a nurse in the First World War and even taught music and singing to poverty-stricken children in London’s East End.
In 1927, she was part of a choir which had the honour of serenading King George V and Queen Mary at Buckingham Palace.
In 1904, Lottie Dod became the British national ladies’ golf champion
Lottie Dod (back row) is seen with fellow tennis players including Ernest Renshaw and Herbert Chipp,
Lottie Dod is seen competing at the ladies’ golf championship in 1904, when she triumphed
Lottie Dod (front row, first from left) and the other members of the archery club before the 1908 London Olympics
All the while Dod was a regular visitor to Wimbledon, although was less than impressed with the latest generation of players.
Writing to The Times in 1927, she bemoaned the ‘ill-mannered’ competitors who had no qualms with ‘taking umpiring into their own hands.’
Away from Wimbledon, Dod lived in a flat in Earl’s Court, West London, with her brother William, who died in 1954.
When she became too frail to travel to Wimbledon in her old age, Dod turned to listening to matches on the wireless.
Even when she moved to a nursing home, she would still follow the tennis. According to Ms Abramsky’s biography, she died listening to Wimbledon proceedings on June 27, 1960, aged 88.
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