Lottie Dod - Tennis

Tennis

Together with Annie, who was eight years older, Dod entered her first tennis tournament, the 1883 Northern Championships in Manchester, at age eleven. They lost in the first round of the doubles tournament to Hannah Keith and Amber McCord, but won the consolation tournament. One journalist, Sydney Brown, noted that "Miss L. Dod should be heard of in the future". She turned out to be correct.

At the same tournament in 1885, she came to prominence when she nearly beat reigning Wimbledon champion Maud Watson in the final, losing 8–6, 7–5. Dod would win the doubles event (with Annie) and had earlier won the singles, doubles and mixed doubles at the Waterloo tournament. These performances earned her the nickname "Little Wonder" in the press.

Slowly, Dod became an established top player, illustrated by the fact she partnered then seven-time Wimbledon doubles winner Ernest Renshaw for the first time in 1887. That same year, she also debuted at Wimbledon. Only six competitors, not including top player Watson, entered. Dod easily advanced through the first rounds to earn the right to challenge the defending champion1, Blanche Bingley, whom she defeated 6–2, 6–0.

The two met again in the final of the 1888 West of England Tournament. Although designated as an "open" tournament, the officials made the remarkable decision to impose a handicap of 152 on Dod. She still managed to win against her opponent, now known by her married name, Blanche Hillyard. The Wimbledon final of 1888 was a rematch of the previous year, and Dod again emerged victorious (6–3, 6–3).

Lottie Dod's style of play, then regarded as unorthodox, now seems notably modern. She was perhaps the first player to advocate hitting the ball just before the top of the bounce and to adopt a modern, albeit single-handed, racquet grip. Her ground strokes were reported by contemporaries to be unusually firmly hit by the standards of the time, but - like many female players of the day - she served underhand and only rarely employed spin.

Dod only entered one open tournament in 1889 (the Northern Championships, which she won), and failed to attend Wimbledon, much to the disappointment of her fans. Together with Annie and some friends, she was on a sailing trip off the Scottish coast, and didn't want to return in time for Wimbledon. This was followed by a complete absence from the game in 1890.

After failing to do so in 1889, Dod was determined to win Wimbledon three times in a row, starting in 1891. Although it was her only competitive appearance of that season, she won her third Wimbledon title with ease, again by defeating Hillyard (6–2, 6–1).

1892 saw Dod's first singles defeat in an open tournament since 1886, losing to Louise Martin of Ireland in the Irish Championships. It was the last of only five losses in her entire tennis career. She continued the year strongly, culminating in another easy Wimbledon victory over Hillyard.

Dod's last tennis season as a competitive player was 1893, and she played in just two tournaments, winning both. On both occasions, she defeated Blanche Hillyard in three sets, despite a heavy fall in the Wimbledon final. Her record of five Wimbledon titles would not last for long, as Hillyard, after losing in the final to Dod five times, won her sixth title in 1900. Suzanne Lenglen broke Dod's record of three consecutive singles wins by winning from 1919 to 1923.

Apart from entering women's tournaments, Dod sometimes also played and won matches against men (who usually played with a handicap), and on one occasion defeated star players Ernest Renshaw and George Hillyard (the husband of Blanche) when doubling with Herbert Baddeley.