Dorothy Cheney was born on September 1, 1916 in Los Angeles, California. She was fondly called “Dodo” by her parents, former U.S. doubles tennis champion Tom Bundy and tennis Hall of Famer May Sutton. Having inherited the talent of her parents in court, Cheney showed exceptional skills in tennis since her youth until she has grown into age not only in the singles division but also in the doubles and mixed categories.

Her career began in 1936 when she reached the quarterfinals in the women’s singles in the U.S. Championships. For two years from 1937 to 1939, the right-handed player became a member of the U.S. Wightman Cup teams. Cheney’s popularity rose when she became the first American tennis player to win a single title in the women’s division at the Australian Championships after joining for the first time in 1938. She was not able to defend her title the following year. World War II prevented Cheney from participating in the Australia, France and Wimbledon tournaments. She played mostly in the United States, always landing at least in the quarterfinals. Her highest rank recorded is U.S. No. 3 in 1937, 1938, and 1941.

Cheney also participated in the women doubles tournament. She and never won the finals although was able to reach the finals in three events. The first was in 1938 at the Australian Championships with her partner Dorothy Workman. Despite losing in the doubles, she nevertheless won the finals in the singles. The second was in 1940 with Marjorie Van Ryn as her partner in the U.S. Championships. The following year of 1941, in the U.S. Championships, she again reached the finals with partner Pauline Betz but failed to come out victorious.

Cheney is known not only with good skills but is also known for competing despite having aged. In fact, at age 51, she was still competing in selected events. In 1990 at age 74, she played against Venus Williams who was then only 10 years old. In 2002 at age 85, she and her daughter Christine Putnam won the USTA mother-daughter Super Senior Championships (grass court) held at the International Tennis Hall of Fame as a kickoff to the inauguration of the National Senior Women's Tennis Association Invitational. Now at the age of 92, Cheney so far holds the record for the most USTA National Senior titles, which is more than 300.

Cheney was finally inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004 in Newport, Rhode Island.

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