6 Women’s Tennis Facts You’ll Wish You’d Known Sooner

Women’s tennis is full of surprises—from teenage prodigies who made history before they could drive to fashion statements that scandalized Wimbledon. Behind the powerful serves and intense rivalries lies a treasure trove of quirky facts and forgotten stories that even die-hard fans might not know. Here are six things you probably didn’t know about the women’s game.

The Youngest Grand Slam Winner Was Just 15

When Charlotte “Lottie” Dod stepped onto the Wimbledon grass in 1887, she was still a schoolgirl with pigtails—and she walked away as the youngest Grand Slam champion in tennis history at just 15 years and 285 days old . Nicknamed the “Little Wonder,” she famously challenged three top-ranked male players to a match and defeated two of them while playing in a long dress and corset . She later called out the ridiculousness of women’s tennis clothing, proving that even Victorian teenagers knew how to serve up some attitude.

A Player Once Won a Match Without Losing a Single Point

Steffi Graf’s 1988 French Open final against Natasha Zvereva remains one of the most lopsided matches in tennis history—she won 6-0, 6-0 in just 32 minutes . That “double bagel” came during Graf’s legendary Golden Slam year, when she won all four majors and Olympic gold before her 20th birthday . Zvereva probably still has nightmares about that day.