Maud Watson

Born in Harrow, Middlesex, the daughter of a local vicar Henry William and Emily Frances Watson.{{cite book|last=Little|first=Alan|title=Maud Watson : The First Wimbledon Lady Champion|year=1983|publisher=The Kenneth Ritchie Wimbledon Library, The Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum|location=London|isbn=978-0906741115}} She learned to play tennis in the garden with her sister and did not find it difficult because she had already played squash racquets.{{cite book|last=Gillmeister|first=Heiner|title=Tennis : A Cultural History|year=2017|publisher=Equinox|location=Sheffield|isbn=978-1781795217|page=243|edition=2nd}} At the age of sixteen Watson played her first match at the Edgbaston Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club. It was a successful debut, winning the singles competition by defeating her sister Lilian in the final and winning the doubles competition with her.

In 1884 Watson participated in the Irish Lawn Tennis Championships and defeated the reigning Irish champion May Langrishe 6–3, 6–2, 6–2. She was also victorious in the mixed doubles tournament winning the title with multiple Wimbledon champion William Renshaw. Undefeated in tournament play, in 1884 the nineteen-year-old Watson won the first-ever Ladies' Singles title at Wimbledon. Playing in white corsets and petticoats, from a field of thirteen competitors, she defeated Lilian 6–8, 6–3, 6–3 in the final to claim the title and a silver flower basket valued at 20 guineas.{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=John|title=Wimbledon : The Official History of the Championships|year=2001|publisher=CollinsWillow|location=London|isbn=0007117078|pages=28–30}}{{cite book|last=Little|first=Alan|title=Wimbledon Ladies : A Centenary Record 1884–1984 : The Single Champions|year=1984|publisher=Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum|location=London|isbn=0906741130|pages=7, 8|author2=Tingay, Lance}}

1885 was a year of great success for Watson, who remained unbeaten in singles and lost only one set. She successfully defended her title at the 1885 Irish Championships against Louise Martin. For two sets, there was little to choose between them, but in the decider, Watson outlasted her opponent to win 6–2, 4–6, 6–3.

At the end of June 1885 she took part in the second major tournament of the year at the Northern Championships held in Manchester where she defeated Edith Davies in straight sets

In July 1885 she won the Wimbledon Championships. In a field of just 10 entries she easily won the quarter- and semi-finals and in the final defeated Blanche Bingley 6–1, 7–5.{{cite book|last=Barrett|first=John|title=Wimbledon : The Official History of the Championships|year=2001|publisher=CollinsWillow|location=London|isbn=0007117078|page=247}} She became the first woman to win all three major titles in the same calendar year.

In 1886, the year the Challenge Round was introduced for women, Bingley turned the tables, defeating Watson 6–3, 6–3 in the final to take the title.{{cite book|last=Collins|first=Bud|title=The Bud Collins History of Tennis|year=2010|publisher=New Chapter Press|location=[New York]|isbn=978-0942257700|edition=2nd |pages=425}}

In 1887 and 1888 Watson, was handicapped by a sprained wrist, symptoms of such amplified with time.Little (1983), pp. 11–13 Her final competition came at the Edgbaston tournament in June 1889. She entered three events (doubles, mixed doubles and handicap singles) and won them all. While on holiday in Jersey she went swimming off the coast and nearly drowned. She was rescued with difficulty and suffered an illness afterwards which she took a number of years to recover completely from.Little (1983), p. 14

Maud Watson worked as a nurse during the First World War for which she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.Collins (2010), p. 712Little (1983), p. 15

Watson, who did not marry, died on 5 June 1946, aged 81, at Hammonds Mead House in Charmouth.Collins (2010), p. 10

{{Commons category|Maud Watson}}

{{reflist}}

{{Wimbledon women's singles champions}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Maud}}

Category:1864 births

Category:1946 deaths

Category:19th-century female tennis players

Category:19th-century English sportswomen

Category:20th-century English sportswomen

Category:English female tennis players

Category:British female tennis players

Category:People from Harrow, London

Category:Tennis players from the London Borough of Harrow

Category:People from the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull

Category:People from West Dorset District

Category:Sportspeople from Dorset

Category:Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era)

Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles

Category:British women in World War I