Dorothy Edith Round (13 July 1909 – 12 November 1982) was a British tennis player who was active from the late 1920s until 1950. She achieved her major successes in the 1930s. She won the singles title at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937, and the singles at the Australian Championships in 1935. She also had success as a mixed doubles player at Wimbledon, winning a total of three titles. After her wedding in 1937, she played under her married name, Mrs D.L. Little. During the Second World War, she played in North America and became a professional coach in Canada and the United States. Post-war, she played in British regional tournaments, coached, and wrote on tennis for newspapers.
Dorothy Round was born on 13 July 1909 in Dudley, West Midlands, England, the youngest of four children. She was the child of John Benjamin Round, a building contractor, and Maude Helena. Her family home in Park Road, Dudley, included a hard tennis court laid down by her grandfather. She was brought up as a Methodist, and her religion remained important to her throughout her life. According to an interview she gave in later life, she played tennis with her brothers at the court in the garden of the family home from an early age and entered a school tennis competition aged 10 or 11. Round attended the Dudley Girls High School.
Round entered her first tennis tournament when she was 16 when she appeared at a competition held at Pwllheli in Wales. In September 1925, Round entered the Junior Worcestershire Championships, and on 7 September 1925 she won the title, defeating Miss Lily Darby of Smethwick in straight sets. She retained the Worcestershire singles junior title the following year and added the doubles title at the same tournament. In September 1926, Round competed in the Junior Tennis Championships at Wimbledon, where she reached the semifinals. In June 1927, Round won three titles at the Worcestershire County Lawn Tennis Tournament, becoming the singles, doubles and mixed doubles champion.
First appearances at Wimbledon and other major tournaments
Round entered her first Wimbledon Championships in 1928 after coming through the qualifying event, and she was knocked out in the first round by Miss N. Trentham, 6–2, 6–8, 8–6. The following year, she suffered from nerves as she was defeated by Betty Nuthall in the second round. Later in 1929, her picture featured in the "Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News" where she was billed as "a rising player". Round put in some impressive performances at the Wightman Cup trials held at Wimbledon in April 1930, defeating a number of established British players. In the same month, "Bunny" Austin one of the top British male players, called Round "a bright new star".
In 1930 she made her first tennis trip abroad, to the French Championships where she entered the doubles event, partnered with Mrs. Holcroft Watson and the mixed doubles event, partnered with Mr H.G.N. Lee. Her participation in the tournament resulted in a number of newspapers commenting on the possible difficulties caused by Round's refusal to play on Sunday because of her religious principles and the fact that the finals of the French Championships were played on that day. She reached the semifinals of the doubles, where the English pair were beaten by the French pair Mathieu and Barbier, 7–5, 7–5. She also reached the third round of the mixed doubles. In this year, it was reported that she was being coached by Dan Maskell.
At the 1931 Wimbledon Championships, she reached the quarterfinal stage for the first time after defeating fifth-seeded Lili Álvarez in the third round, and she was rewarded with a spot on the British team for the Wightman Cup, the annual women's team tennis competition between Great Britain and the United States, which in 1931 was held in August at Forest Hills. She lost her singles match against Anna Harper in three sets after failing to convert any of her seven matchpoints. Later in the same month, Round reached the doubles final of the U.S. National Championships at Forest Hill, where she was partnered with Helen Jacobs. The pair lost to Miss Betty Nuthall and Mrs. Fearnley Whittingstall, 6–2, 6–4. In a newspaper article from 1935, Round stated that it was her Wightman Cup loss that prompted her have more tournament play and she increased the number of tournaments that she played in to around 12 per season.
In 1932, she again reached the Wimbledon singles quarterfinal, losing to first-seeded and three-time Wimbledon champion Helen Wills Moody, 6–0, 6–1.
She declined to compete in the French Championships in 1933 because she did not want to play on a Sunday because of her religious convictions.
First Grand Slam singles final
In May 1933, Round scored a victory over Helen Jacobs in the final of the British Hard Court Championships, 3–6, 6–2, 6–3. At the 1933 Wimbledon Championships, she was seeded no. 2, and after a win against Helen Jacobs in the semifinal, she reached her first Grand Slam final. Wills Moody, now five-time Wimbledon singles title-holder, proved too strong, but Round managed to take a set from her, which was the first set Wills Moody lost in a Grand Slam final since 1925. She 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. The result of the match, held on 12 August 1933, was 6–2, 6–4. 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, Round travelled with a British team to the Jamaican Tennis Championships. She reached the singles final, losing to Helen Jacobs, 6–4, 6–1. The following May, Round retained her British Hard Court Championships single title in Bournemouth, beating Peggy Scriven in the final.
Seeded number 2 in the 1934 Wimbledon Championships, she won the tournament, defeating sixth-seeded Lolette Payot in the quarterfinals and eighth-seeded Simonne Mathieu in the semifinals, and Helen Jacobs, 6–2, 5–7, 6–3 in the final. She also won the mixed doubles competition, partnered with Ryuki Miki.
In late 1934, Round was part of a British team that sailed to Australasia, arriving at Auckland on 2 November 1934 on board the Mariposa. After playing matches in New Zealand, the British team went to Australia in mid-November, where they were given a reception by the New South Lawn Tennis Association on 19 November 1934.
Round won the Victorian Championships, held in Melbourne, in December 1934 after a two-sets win in the final against Joan Hartigan. In January 1935, Round added the Australian Championships title to her Wimbledon one, beating compatriot Nancy Lyle in the final, 6–1, 1–6, 6–1. With this victory, Round became the first overseas player to win the Australian Championships.
Also in January 1935, Modern Lawn Tennis, her first instructional book on tennis, was published by George Newnes.
Round lost her Wimbledon singles title in the summer of 1935, defeated in the quarterfinals by Australian Joan Hartigan, 6–4, 4–6, 3–6. However, she retained her mixed doubles title in that year, partnered with Fred Perry. The pair beat Australians Nell Hopman and Harry Hopman, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2. In July 1935, it was reported that she had taken a post as a dress designer and sports wear adviser to a firm of outfitters.
Despite being the top seed in the singles of the Wimbledon Championships of summer 1936, Round lost in the quarterfinals, beaten by German Hilde Sperling. This match generated some controversy, when, during play, Round broke a shoulder strap. When 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 Round to carry on with the strap held by a safety pin. Despite the singles loss, Round retained her mixed doubles title, again partnered with Fred Perry. The pair defeated Don Budge and Sarah Fabyan, 7–9, 7–5, 6–4.