{{short description|British badminton and tennis player}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}} {{Infobox tennis biography | name = Ethel Thomson Larcombe | image = Ethel Thomson Larcombe.jpg | caption = | fullname = Ethel Warneford Thomson Larcombe | country = {{GBR}} | residence = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1879|06|08|df=y}} | birth_place = Islington, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1965|08|11|1879|06|09}} | death_place = Budleigh Salterton, England | height = | college = | turnedpro = | retired = | plays = Right-handed | careerprizemoney = | tennishofyear = | tennishofid = | website = | singlesrecord = | singlestitles = | highestsinglesranking = | AustralianOpenresult = | FrenchOpenresult = | Wimbledonresult = '''W''' (1912) | USOpenresult = | Othertournaments = | Olympicssresult = | doublesrecord = | doublestitles = | highestdoublesranking = | grandslamsdoublesresults = | AustralianOpenDoublesresult = | FrenchOpenDoublesresult = | WimbledonDoublesresult = F (1914, 1919, 1920) | USOpenDoublesresult = | OthertournamentsDoubles = | OlympicsDoublesresult = | Mixed = | mixedtitles = | mixedrecord = | highestmixedranking = | AustralianOpenMixedresult = | FrenchOpenMixedresult = | WimbledonMixedresult = '''W''' (1914) | USOpenMixedresult = }} ''' Ethel Larcombe ''' (née '''Ethel Warneford Thomson''', 8 June 1879 – 11 August 1965) was a British female tennis player and badminton player. She won the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1912 Wimbledon Championships as well as 11 badminton titles at the All England Badminton Championships.
==Career== Ethel was born 8 June 1879 as the second child of Herbert Warneford Thomson, surgeon, and his wife, Sophia Charlotte Bond.<ref>{{cite ODNB|author1=Mark Ryan|title=Larcombe [née Thomson], Ethel Warneford|url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-104304|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/104304|isbn=978-0-19-861412-8|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Her older brother Hugh was born in 1878.
She first competed at Wimbledon in 1902 when she lost in the first round to Agnes Morton. The following year, 1903, she reached the final of the All-Comers tournament in which she was defeated by Dorothea Douglass in three sets. Larcombe did not play competitive tennis for four years from 1907 until her return in 1911.<ref name="myers1912">{{cite book|last1=Wallis Myers|first1=A.|author-link=A. Wallis Myers|title=Leaders of Lawn Tennis|date=1912|publisher=Amateur Sports Pub. Co.|location=London|pages=39–40|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433042977847}}</ref> In 1912 she became Wimbledon champion by first defeating Charlotte Cooper Sterry in the All-Comers' final and subsequently receiving a walkover in the Challenge Round. The following year she was unable to defend her singles title when she was injured in the final of the mixed doubles. Her partner James Cecil Parke misjudged a smash in the second set which hit her full on the side of the face and the resulting eye injury forced her to retire from the mixed doubles final and to default from her challenge round match against Dorothea Lambert Chambers scheduled for the following day.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Open Tournaments|journal=Lawn Tennis and Badminton|date=10 July 1913|volume=VI|issue=23|pages=555}}</ref> In total she participated in 11 editions of the Wimbledon Championships between 1902 and 1921.<ref name="wimbledon">{{cite web|title=Wimbledon players archive – Ethel Larcombe (Thomson)|url=http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/scores/draws/archive/players/53e8c482-8a4b-4fca-83b8-4fb20fb30ee6/index.html|website=wimbledon.com|publisher=AELTC}}</ref>
She won the Scottish Championships singles title three times (1910–12) and she won the singles title at the Irish Championships in 1912 defeating Mrs. Norton-Barry in the final in two sets.
===Playing style=== In contrast to most of her contemporaries Larcombe played her service underhand.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lenglen|first1=Suzanne|author-link=Suzanne Lenglen|editor1-last=White|editor1-first=Eustace E.|title=Lawn Tennis for Girls|date=1920|publisher=American Sports Publishing co.|location=New York|page=52|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t6155g29d}}</ref> In 1903 A. Wallis Myers wrote that her favorite shot was the backhand down the line and that she possessed an effective smash.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Wallis Myers|editor1-first=A.|editor-link=A. Wallis Myers|title=Lawn Tennis at Home and Abroad|date=1903|publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons|location=New York|page=[https://archive.org/details/lawntennisathom00myergoog/page/n204 183]|url=https://archive.org/details/lawntennisathom00myergoog}}</ref> According to Dorothea Lambert-Chambers she was one of the best female volleyers of her time but did not have very good fitness, causing her to fade in matches.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Lambert-Chambers|first1=Dorothea|title=Lawn Tennis for Ladies|date=1910|publisher=Methuen & Co.|location=London|pages=48, 103}}</ref> After her return to tennis in 1911, several aspects of her game had improved including her forehand shot as well as her stamina.<ref name="myers1912"/>
==Grand Slam finals==
===Singles (1 title, 2 runners-up)=== {|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !Year !style="width:130px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:200px"|Opponent !style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1903<sup>2</sup> || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|UKGBI}} Dorothea Douglass || 6–4, 4–6, 2–6 |- | style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1912<sup>1</sup> || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|UKGBI}} Charlotte Cooper Sterry || 6–3, 6–1 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1914 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|UKGBI}} Dorothea Lambert Chambers || 5–7, 4–6 |}
=== Doubles (3 runner-ups) === {|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !Year !style="width:130px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:200px"|Partner !style="width:200px"|Opponents !style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1914 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|GBR}} Edith Hannam || {{flagicon|GBR}} Agnes Morton <br> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan || 1–6, 3–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1919 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|GBR}} Dorothea Lambert-Chambers || {{flagicon|FRA}} Suzanne Lenglen <br> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan || 6–4, 5–7, 3–6 |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1920 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass || {{flagicon|GBR}} Dorothea Lambert-Chambers || {{flagicon|FRA}} Suzanne Lenglen <br> {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Elizabeth Ryan || 4–6, 0–6 |}
=== Mixed doubles (1 title, 1 runner-up) ===
{|class="sortable wikitable" !Result !Year !style="width:130px"|Championship !style="width:50px"|Surface !style="width:200px"|Partner !style="width:200px"|Opponents !style="width:100px" class="unsortable"|Score |- | style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss || 1913 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass ||{{flagicon|IRE}} James Cecil Parke || {{flagicon|GBR}} Agnes Tuckey<br>{{flagicon|GBR}} Hope Crisp || 6–3, 3–5 ret. |- | style="background:#98fb98;"|Win || 1914 || style="background:#cfc"|Wimbledon || Grass ||{{flagicon|IRE}} James Cecil Parke || {{flagicon|FRA}} Marguerite Broquedis<br>{{flagicon|NZL}} Anthony Wilding || 4–6, 6–4, 6–2 |}
<sup>1</sup> This was the all-comers final as Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers did not defend her 1911 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1912 by walkover.<br> <sup>2</sup> This was the all-comers final as Muriel Robb did not defend her 1902 Wimbledon title, which resulted in the winner of the all-comers final winning the challenge round and, thus, Wimbledon in 1903 by walkover.
==Badminton== As a badminton player she won 11 titles at the All England Badminton Championships, five of them in women's singles (1900, 1901, 1903, 1904 and 1906), four in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles.
==Personal life== On 15 October 1906 she married Major Dudley Larcombe, who was secretary of the All England Club from 1925 to 1939.<ref>Hedges, Martin (1978) ''The Concise Dictionary of Tennis''. London: Bison Books; p. 146</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Ethel Thomson Larcombe}} * {{Wimbledon player|name=Ethel Larcombe}}
{{Wimbledon women's singles champions}} {{Wimbledon mixed doubles champions}} {{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Singles Women}} {{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Doubles Women}} {{Footer All England Open Championships Badminton Doubles Mixed}} {{Badminton Hall of Fame members}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larcombe, Ethel Thomson}} Category:1879 births Category:1965 deaths Category:English female tennis players Category:British female tennis players Category:English female badminton players Category:People from Islington (district) Category:Wimbledon champions (pre-Open Era) Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles Category:Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Category:Tennis players from the London Borough of Islington Category:20th-century English sportswomen