Tennis at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Women's singles
# Tennis at the 1920 Summer Olympics – Women's singles

The women's singles was a tennis event held as part of the Tennis at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. A total of 18 players from 7 nations competed in the event, which was held from 16 to 24 August 1920 at the Beerschot Tennis Club. The event was won by Suzanne Lenglen of France, defeating Dorothy Holman of Great Britain in the final. It was the second consecutive victory for a French woman, with Marguerite Broquedis winning the pre-war 1912 tournament. Kathleen McKane Godfree of Great Britain defeated Sigrid Fick of Sweden in the bronze-medal match.

Lenglen's victory was comprehensive, as she lost only 4 games in her 5 matches (1 to Fick in the semifinals, 3 to Holman in the final).

## Background

This was the fourth appearance of the women's singles tennis. A women's event was held only once during the first three Games (only men's tennis was played in 1896 and 1904), but has been held at every Olympics for which there was a tennis tournament since 1908. Tennis was not a medal sport from 1928 to 1984, though there were demonstration events in 1968 and 1984.

France's Suzanne Lenglen was the "dominant women's player in the world, and considered by some as the greatest female player of all time." She highlighted a strong field, including top British players Dorothy Holman and Kathleen McKane Godfree. Absent were Molla Mallory (a bronze medalist for Norway in 1912 who had emigrated to the United States; in 1921, she would be the only woman to beat Lenglen post-war), Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers of Great Britain (the 1908 Olympic gold medalist and seven-time Wimbledon winner, who had reached the Wimbledon finals in 1919 and 1920, losing both to Lenglen), and Elizabeth Ryan of the United States (long-time doubles partner of Lenglen, who would reach the 1921 Wimbledon singles final against her).

Belgium, Denmark, and Italy each made their debut in the event. France and Great Britain each made their third appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

## Competition format

The competition was a single-elimination tournament with a bronze-medal match. All matches were best-of-three sets.

## Schedule

| Date | Round |
| - | - |
| Monday, 16 August 1920 | Round of 32 |
| Tuesday, 17 August 1920 Wednesday, 18 August 1920 | Round of 16 |
| Thursday, 19 August 1920 Friday, 20 August 1920 Saturday, 21 August 1920 Sunday, 22 August 1920 Monday, 23 August 1920 | Quarterfinals Semifinals |
| Tuesday, 24 August 1920 | Bronze medal match Final |

## Draw

### Key

* Q = Qualifier
* WC = Wild card
* LL = Lucky loser
* Alt = Alternate
* SE = Special exempt
* PR = Protected ranking
* ITF = ITF entry
* JE = Junior exempt
* w/o = Walkover
* r = Retired
* d = Defaulted
* SR = Special ranking

### Finals

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) | Final (gold-medal match) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Sigrid Fick (SWE) | Sigrid Fick (SWE) | 0 | 1 | | | | | |
| Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | |
| Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | |
| | | | | Dorothy Holman (GBR) | Dorothy Holman (GBR) | 3 | 0 | |
| Kathleen McKane (GBR) | Kathleen McKane (GBR) | w/o | | Dorothy Holman (GBR) | Dorothy Holman (GBR) | 3 | 0 | |
| Dorothy Holman (GBR) | Dorothy Holman (GBR) | | | Bronze-medal match | Bronze-medal match | Bronze-medal match | Bronze-medal match | Bronze-medal match |
| | | | | Sigrid Fick (SWE) | Sigrid Fick (SWE) | 2 | 0 | |
| | | | | Kathleen McKane (GBR) | Kathleen McKane (GBR) | 6 | 6 | |

### Top half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | A de Borman (BEL) | A de Borman (BEL) | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | M Skrbková (TCH) | M Skrbková (TCH) | w/o | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | A de Borman (BEL) | A de Borman (BEL) | 4 | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | S Fick (SWE) | S Fick (SWE) | 6 | 8 | | | | |
| | | | | S Fick (SWE) | S Fick (SWE) | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | C Dahl (NOR) | C Dahl (NOR) | 5 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | S Fick (SWE) | S Fick (SWE) | 0 | 1 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | S Lenglen (FRA) | S Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 |
| | | | | L Strömberg-von Essen (SWE) | L Strömberg-von Essen (SWE) | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| E Brehm (DEN) | E Brehm (DEN) | 6 | 6 | E Brehm (DEN) | E Brehm (DEN) | 5 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| M Dupont (BEL) | M Dupont (BEL) | 3 | 4 | | | | | L Strömberg-von Essen (SWE) | L Strömberg-von Essen (SWE) | 0 | 0 | | | | |
| W McNair (GBR) | W McNair (GBR) | | | | | | | S Lenglen (FRA) | S Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | | | | |
| F Subirana (ESP) | F Subirana (ESP) | w/o | | W McNair (GBR) | W McNair (GBR) | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | |
| S Lenglen (FRA) | S Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | S Lenglen (FRA) | S Lenglen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| M Storms (BEL) | M Storms (BEL) | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

### Bottom half

| First round | First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R Gagliardi (ITA) | R Gagliardi (ITA) | 6 | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| M Lindberg (SWE) | M Lindberg (SWE) | 0 | $0^r$ | R Gagliardi (ITA) | R Gagliardi (ITA) | 1 | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | |
| K McKane (GBR) | K McKane (GBR) | 6 | 6 | K McKane (GBR) | K McKane (GBR) | 6 | 1 | 6 | | | | | | | |
| J Vaussard (FRA) | J Vaussard (FRA) | 4 | 4 | | | | | | K McKane (GBR) | K McKane (GBR) | 6 | 6 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | É d'Ayen (FRA) | É d'Ayen (FRA) | 2 | 3 | | | |
| | | | | A Hansen (DEN) | A Hansen (DEN) | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | É d'Ayen (FRA) | É d'Ayen (FRA) | 6 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | K McKane (GBR) | K McKane (GBR) | w/o |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | D Holman (GBR) | D Holman (GBR) | |
| | | | | G Ferelli (ITA) | G Ferelli (ITA) | w/o | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | F Arendt (BEL) | F Arendt (BEL) | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | F Arendt (BEL) | F Arendt (BEL) | 2 | 3 | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | D Holman (GBR) | D Holman (GBR) | 6 | 6 | | | |
| | | | | G Beamish (GBR) | G Beamish (GBR) | 6 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | D Holman (GBR) | D Holman (GBR) | 8 | 6 | | | | | | | | |
