Round Little, Dorothy

Dorothy Edith Round Little
Born: July 13, 1908
Died: November 12, 1982
Hometown: Dudley, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Citizenship: United Kingdom
Handed: Right
Inducted: 1986

Grand Slam Record
Australian     Singles     1935

Wimbledon     Singles     1934, 37
Singles finalist     1933
Mixed     1934-36

U.S.     Doubles finalist     1954, 73

Tournament Record
Wightman Cup           1931-36

Dorothy Edith Round Little was the leading British female player at the time Helen Wills Moody ruled the courts in the 1930s. Round distinguished herself on several counts, among them that she was the only British player besides Kitty McKane Godfree to win Wimbledon twice since World War I, and she was in 1935 the only woman from overseas to win the Australian Championship.

Born July 13, 1908, in Dudley, Worcestershire, groundstroke game of power and precision and volleying ability equaled by few. She won the Wimbledon crown in 1934 and repeated in 1937. Her play at the net was a factor in her victory over Helen Jacobs in the 1934 final, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. In the 1937 final, she defeated the strong Polish woman, Jadwiga Jedrzejowska, 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, overcoming a 1-4 deficit in the final set.

To get to the Wimbledon final of 1937, Round defeated Jacobs and Simone Mathieu, France’s leading player. Round appeared to rise to her best form when confronted by Jacobs or Moody. In 1933 Round got to the final at Wimbledon and gave Moody one of the most challenging fights of her career, yielding at 6-4, 6-8, 6-3. That same year in the U.S. Championships, she lost to Jacobs, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, in the semifinals.

Round was not as successful, however, in Wightman Cup matches as in tournaments for the championship of England, U.S. and Australia.

She was a member of the British team from 1931 to 1936. She lost to Jacobs four times before defeating the American in 1936, in her final appearance in the international team matches, 63, 6-3. Round (Mrs. Douglas Little in 1937) probably relished that victory particularly, for it was the year Jacobs finally achieved her ambition of winning Wimbledon.

She was in the World Top Ten from 1933 through 1937, No. 1 in 1934, and was named to the Hall of Fame in 1986. She died November 12, 1982, in Kidderminster, England.

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