In celebration of the Kenneth Ritchie Wimbledon Library’s status in charting not only the history of The Championships but the history of lawn tennis, Librarian Robert McNicol has assembled a 13-day guide showcasing the stellar sources available. Here he explains which titles he has selected for Day 12.
It might be 40 years since Virginia Wade was crowned ladies’ champion on the grass courts of SW19, but, with Johanna Konta’s composed advance to the semi-finals, we seem closer than ever to cheering another home winner. Believe it or not, we have had 14 British ladies’ singles champions – and here Robert shares his pick of the books that record their deeds.
Courting Triumph by Virginia Wade (1978) - Forty years on, Virginia Wade remains the last British woman to win the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Championship. It might have taken her 16 attempts but she could hardly have timed it better, winning the final against Betty Stove on Centre Court in front of the Queen in the Jubilee year of 1977. “I felt I was the best player who had not won Wimbledon so far,” she said. “I belonged out there. It was fitting I should win.” Her memoir relives the story of that Wimbledon triumph and the career that led up to it, which also included a US Open title in 1968.
A Game to Love by Ann Jones (1971) - Ann Jones triumphed at Wimbledon in 1969, beating Margaret Court in the semi-final and Billie Jean King in the final. In A Game to Love, she describes her life story with engaging frankness and humility, from her sporty upbringing to her successful table tennis talent - which saw her come within points of becoming world champion - as well as her outstanding tennis career that included two French Championships in addition to her Wimbledon title.
My Waiting Game by Angela Mortimer (1962) - Angela Mortimer spent much of her career in the shadow of higher profile rivals such as Louise Brough, Maureen Connolly and Althea Gibson. But her time finally arrived at Wimbledon in 1961, when she won an all-British final against Christine Truman to become the first British Champion since Dorothy Round in 1937. In an excellent career, she also won the French and Australian Championships and was one of the greatest players on indoor courts of her era.
Modern Lawn Tennis by Dorothy Round (1934) - Dorothy Round is the last British woman to win multiple Wimbledon singles championships, having triumphed against Helen Jacobs of the USA in 1937 and Jadwiga Jedrzejowska of Poland in 1937. Modern Lawn Tennis is an instructional book, rather than an autobiography, including tips on various types of shot as well as footwork, temperament and doubles play.
Kitty Godfree: Lady of a Golden Age (1987) - Kitty McKane/Godfree was a two-time Wimbledon Champion (1924 and 1926) and the holder of six Olympic tennis medals, despite playing in an era of legendary players such as Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills. She was an outstanding all-round sportswoman who also represented England at lacrosse and was All England badminton champion four times. She died in 1992 at the age of 96.
Lottie Dod: Champion of Champions: The Story of an Athlete by Jeffrey Pearson (1988) – Charlotte “Lottie” Dod was the first teenage tennis prodigy. As well as being a five times Wimbledon champion, she was a hockey and golf international, the only woman to win both the British golf and tennis championships, captain of the first official English ladies’ golf team, an Olympic silver medallist for archery and an award-winning skater and mountaineer. One year she didn’t defend her Wimbledon title because she was “bored with tennis”!
Other notable titles featuring home champions include Lawn Tennis for Ladies (1910) by Dorothea Lambert-Chambers, who won an incredible seven ladies’ singles titles at Wimbledon in 1903, 1904,1906, 1910, 1911, 1913, 1914, and shared her knowledge with instructive content which includes "Practice, and How to Improve", "Match and Tournament Play", "Rackets, Courts, Dress, and Training", "Tournament and Club Management", as well as "Some Personal Reminiscences"; Lena Rice: The Only Irish Wimbledon Lady Champion by Alan Little (1985) - Rice was representing the British Isles; and Alan’s Maud Watson: The First Wimbledon Lady Champion (1983) which tells the tale of the champion who beat her sister Lillian to win her first championship in 1884. A year later, she beat Blanche Bingley to successfully defend her title and reached the final again in 1886, only to lose to Bingley.
The Library, founded in 1976 by Alan Little, holds one of the largest and most diverse collections of tennis literature in the world. Dating from the birth of Lawn Tennis in the 1870s to the present day, the collection holds books, magazines, yearbooks, annuals, programmes and newspaper cuttings from more than 80 countries and continues to grow all the time.