Dora Boothby


Penelope Dora Harvey Boothby was an English female tennis player. She was born in Finchley, Middlesex. She is best remembered for her ladies' singles title at the 1909 Wimbledon Championships.

Biography

Boothby was born in Finchley and, together with her older sister Gertrude, lived there with her step-parents, Harry and Gertrude Penn. Harry was a civil engineer, and by 1901, they had moved to South Norwood, where she played at Beulah Hill Club, and during the winter months, she played badminton.
In 1908 she won a silver medal in the women's singles event at the 1908 Summer Olympics.
In 1909 when she won the Ladies' Singles at Wimbledon, the runner-up of the Men's Singles, Josiah Ritchie, was also living in Norwood. Additionally that year she won the singles title of the British Covered Court Championships, played on wood courts at the Queen's Club in London, after defeating Madeline O’Neill in the final in straight sets.
In 1911 she became the first female player to lose a Wimbledon final without winning a game, losing to Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers 6–0, 6–0.
In 1914 she married Arthur C.Geen.
She died in Hammersmith or Hampstead, London in 1970.

Grand Slam finals

Singles (1 titles, 2 runners-up)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore
Winner19091Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Agnes Morton6–4, 4–6, 8–6
Runner-up1910Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Dorothea Lambert Chambers2–6, 2–6
Runner-up1911Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Dorothea Lambert Chambers0–6, 0–6

1This was actually the all-comers final as Charlotte Cooper Sterry did not defend her 1908 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1909 by walkover.

Doubles (1 title)

OutcomeYearChampionshipSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Winner1913Wimbledon ChampionshipsGrass Winifred McNair Charlotte Cooper Sterry
Dorothea Lambert Chambers		4–6, 2–4 retired