Tall, slender and elegant, Charlotte Cooper was a deceptively powerful athlete who became the first woman to win an Olympic tennis title at the 1900 Paris Games.

With five Wimbledon singles championships to her name as well, she will go down as one of the most influential players in the early history of the women's game.

Charlotte Cooper showed just how strong a player she was by reaching the Wimbledon singles final six years in succession.

Her first victory came in 1895, when she defeated Helen Jackson Atkins in a tightly-contested affair, but her second final was far more straightforward as she cruised past Alice Simpson Pickering 6-2, 6-3.

However, Cooper suffered her first taste of defeat at Wimbledon in the 1897 final against Blanche Bingley Hillyard, who would go on to become her main rival. She recovered from this defeat to reclaim the title the following year by beating Louise Martin.

Bingley Hillyard was back the next two years, though, to deny Cooper in both finals. In the first, Bingley Hillyard was victorious in straight sets, but her 1900 success went to three sets.
However, in 1901 Cooper managed to claim a measure of revenge against her rival with a 6-2, 6-2 win to claim her fourth title.

Two more final defeats followed in 1902 and 1904, but Charlotte Cooper made her last final in 1908 one to remember as she became the oldest player to win a Wimbledon singles title, aged 37 years and 282 days.