In 1895, at the age of twenty-four, English born Charlotte Cooper won her first Wimbledon singles title, and then again in 1896, and once more in 1898. But in 1900 she did what no other sportswoman had done before.
She learned how to play the game at Ealing Lawn Tennis Club in London, under the guidance of a couple of coaches including Scottish-born Irishman, Harold Mahoney, who himself won Wimbledon in 1896 (the most recent Irishman to have won it). Her style of serving overhead (few women did so at the time), and aggressively attacking the net constantly gave her the advantage, along with her excellent volleying talent, something else that few female players did.
Winning her first singles title in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, in 1893, she immediately progressed to Wimbledon, and she also played in the Irish Lawn Tennis Championship in Dublin - a major tournament at the time - and won in 1895 and 1898.
Then in 1900 the Paris Olympics came calling; the first modern day Olympics to allow women participation. Chattie did not disappoint.
Not only did she beat Hélène Prévost in the final, but that win made her the first woman to not only win a gold in tennis but to be the first woman in any sport to win an Olympic gold medal. Plus with Reginald Doherty, she also won the mixed doubles event at the same games.
In all she won five Grand Slam singles titles in a seventeen year period, coming in as runner-up seven times. She continued to play competively into her 50s. Her husband, whom she married in 1901 and her two children played major roles in professional tennis; the sport was in everything she loved.
And she did all of this after losing her hearing at the age of twenty-six.
On the 10th of August 1966, at the age of ninety-six, she passed away in the west side of Scotland. The International Tennis Hall of Fame in New York inducted her in 2013 along with eleven other 'Master' and 'Recent' players. Chattie truly was not only a natural but is also a legend of the game.
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