45 Facts About Dorothy Round

Dorothy Round won the singles title at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937, and the singles at the Australian Championships in 1935.

Dorothy Round had success as a mixed doubles player at Wimbledon, winning a total of three titles.

Dorothy Round was born on 13 July 1909 in Dudley, Worcestershire, England, the youngest of four children.

Dorothy Round was the child of John Benjamin Round, a building contractor, and Maude Helena.

Dorothy Round was brought up as a Methodist, and her religion remained important to her throughout her life.

Dorothy Round retained the Worcestershire singles junior title the following year and added the doubles title at the same tournament.

In September 1926, Dorothy Round competed in the Junior Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, where she reached the semifinals.

In June 1927, Dorothy Round won three titles at the Worcestershire County Lawn Tennis Tournament, becoming the singles, doubles and mixed doubles champion.

Dorothy Round put in some impressive performances at the Wightman Cup trials held at Wimbledon in April 1930, defeating a number of established British players.

Dorothy Round reached the third round of the mixed doubles.

Dorothy Round lost her singles match against Anna Harper in three sets after failing to convert any of her seven matchpoints.

Later in the same month, Dorothy Round reached the doubles final of the US National Championships at Forest Hill, where she was partnered with Helen Jacobs.

Dorothy Round declined to compete in the French Championships in 1933 because she did not want to play on a Sunday because of her religious convictions.

Wills Moody, now five-time Wimbledon singles title-holder, proved too strong, but Dorothy Round managed to take a set from her, which was the first set Wills Moody lost in a Grand Slam final since 1925.

Dorothy Round proceeded with a tour to the United States where she competed in the 1933 Wightman Cup and won the singles title at the Eastern Grass Court Championships in Rye, beating compatriot Mary Heeley in the final.

Dorothy Round competed in the 1933 Pacific Coast Championships, held in San Francisco, and was a runner-up to Alice Marble in the singles event but won the doubles event with partner Mary Heeley.

In February and March 1934, Dorothy Round travelled with a British team to the Jamaican Tennis Championships.

Dorothy Round won the mixed doubles competition, partnered with Ryuki Miki.

In late 1934, Dorothy Round was part of a British team that sailed to Australasia, arriving at Auckland on 2 November 1934 on board the Mariposa.

Dorothy Round won the Victorian Championships, held in Melbourne, in December 1934 after a two-sets win in the final against Joan Hartigan.

When Dorothy Round requested permission to leave court to change, her opponent Sperling replied that she would prefer to keep on playing in case she got cold while waiting, forcing Dorothy Round to carry on with the strap held by a safety pin.

In early 1937, Dorothy Round was appointed to the National Advisory Council of Physical Fitness, tasked with improving the fitness of the nation.

In December 1938, it was reported that Dorothy Round was planning a comeback to competitive tennis, but she stated that her participation at Wimbledon would depend on the progress she made during the year.

Dorothy Round returned to tennis in 1939, appearing at the Herga Club's Tournament in Harrow at the end of March.

In May 1940, Round won the doubles, partnered with Mrs S H Hammersley, at the Priory Lawn Tennis Tournament held at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

In July 1940, Dorothy Round announced that she was planning to go to Canada with her young son and that she was considering turning "pro" and doing some coaching.

In July 1940, Dorothy Round went to Canada with her two-year-old son Ian, and while there, she became a professional tennis coach.

Dorothy Round took part in competitions, exhibition matches and raised money for charity in Canada and the USA as well as promote the sale of War Bonds in the US.

Dorothy Round turned professional in 1941 when she accepted a summer coaching position at the Seigniory Tennis Club in Canada.

In February 1942, Dorothy Round was living on the campus of Lake Erie College, where she was coaching tennis players.

Dorothy Round took over the coaching post from Mary Browne.

In June 1942, Dorothy Round appeared with Mary Hardwick, Bobby Riggs and Wayne Sabin in a tennis exhibition held at the Edgemoor Club, Washington DC The event was to raise money for the British and American Ambulance Corps.

At the event, Dorothy Round was introduced to Dwight Davis, founder of the Davis Cup.

In 1944, Dorothy Round returned to the UK, where she performed exhibition matches.

Dorothy Round was reinstated as an amateur in 1945 by the Lawn Tennis Association.

However, Dorothy Round remained an active tennis player, and after a break in 1946 when she had her second child, she has appeared in British tournaments until the 1940s and later.

In September 1949, Dorothy Round was part of the Worcestershire team playing in the Inter-Counties Hard Court Tournament against a South Wales team.

Dorothy Round reached the third round of the singles in the Midland Counties Championships, held in Birmingham in 1950.

In 1963, Dorothy Round coached tennis at Camp Aloha in Vermont.

Dorothy Round was inducted posthumously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986.

The lifesize bronze statue, unveiled by her daughter, was created by the British sculptor John McKenna and depicts Dorothy Round making a return play of the ball.

Dorothy Round went to Canada with her baby son in 1940, returning to the UK in 1944.

Dorothy Round gave birth to a daughter, Patricia, in 1946.

On 4 April 1958, Dorothy Round's husband died at their home in St James Road, Dudley.

Dorothy Round, who moved to Kinver, Staffordshire in 1970, died on 12 November 1982, aged 73, in Kidderminster.