Virginia Wade

{{short description|British tennis player}}

{{Use British English|date=December 2011}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}

{{Infobox tennis biography

| name = Virginia Wade
OBE

| fullname = Sarah Virginia Wade

| image =

| country = {{flagicon|GBR}} United Kingdom

| residence =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1945|7|10}}

| birth_place = Bournemouth, England

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=7}}

| turnedpro = 1968 (amateur from 1962)

| retired = 1986

| plays = Right-handed (one-handed backhand)

| careerprizemoney = $1,542,278

| tennishofyear = 1989

| tennishofid = virginia-wade

| singlesrecord = 839–329{{cite web|url=http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/page/Player/Stats/0,,12781~8881,00.html|title=sonyericssonwtatour.com|access-date=12 September 2009|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729093421/http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/page/Player/Stats/0,,12781~8881,00.html|url-status=dead}}

| singlestitles = 55

| highestsinglesranking = No. 2 (3 November 1975){{ITF profile}}

| AustralianOpenresult = W (1972)

| FrenchOpenresult = QF (1970, 1972)

| Wimbledonresult = W (1977)

| USOpenresult = W (1968)

| doublesrecord = 42–48

| doublestitles =

| highestdoublesranking = No. 1 (1973)

| AustralianOpenDoublesresult = W (1973)

| FrenchOpenDoublesresult = W (1973)

| WimbledonDoublesresult = F (1970)

| USOpenDoublesresult = W (1973, 1975)

| OthertournamentsDoubles = yes

| WTAChampionshipsDoublesresult = W (1975)

| Mixed = yes

| mixedtitles =

| AustralianOpenMixedresult =

| FrenchOpenMixedresult = SF (1969, 1972)

| WimbledonMixedresult = QF (1981)

| USOpenMixedresult = QF (1969, 1985)

}}

Sarah Virginia Wade {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE}} (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all four majors. She was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in singles, and No. 1 in the world in doubles.

Wade was the most recent British tennis player to win a major singles tournament until Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open, and was the most recent British woman to have won a major singles title until Emma Raducanu won the 2021 US Open. After retiring from competitive tennis, she coached for four years,{{cite news |last=Lee |first=Veronica |title=Nice girls finish last |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jun/27/wimbledon2004.wimbledon1 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=27 June 2004}} and has also worked as a tennis commentator and game analyst for the BBC and Eurosport, and (in the US) for CBS.

Early life

Wade was born in Bournemouth, England, UK, on 10 July 1945. Her father was the archdeacon of Durban.{{cite news |last=Viner |first=Brian |title=Virginia Wade: 'We used to think there was a British winner every eight years' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/virginia-wade-we-used-to-think-there-was-a-british-winner-every-eight-years-455119.html |url-status=dead |work=The Independent |location=London |date=29 June 2007 |access-date=10 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090703115635/http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis/virginia-wade-we-used-to-think-there-was-a-british-winner-every-eight-years-455119.html |archive-date=3 July 2009}}

At one year old, Wade moved to South Africa with her parents. There, she learned how to play tennis. When she was aged 15, the family moved back to England, and she went to Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School and Talbot Heath School, Bournemouth.{{cite book |first=John |last=Grasso |title=Historical Dictionary of Tennis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W39oSS7c2xAC&dq=Tunbridge+Wells+Girls%2527+Grammar+School+virginia+wade&pg=PA301 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |date=2011 |page=301 |isbn=978-0-8108-7237-0}} In 1961, she was on the tennis team of Wimbledon County Girls' Grammar School. She studied mathematics and physics at the University of Sussex, graduating in 1966.{{cite news |last=Cheese |first=Caroline |title=Q&A: Virginia Wade |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tv_and_radio/sports_personality_of_the_year/7689413.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=24 October 2008 |access-date=10 January 2008}}

Tennis career

{{BLP sources section|date=November 2008}}

Wade's tennis career spanned the end of the amateur era and the start of the Open Era. In 1968, as an amateur, she won the inaugural open tennis competition – the British Hard Court Open at Bournemouth. She turned down the £300 first prize, choosing to play for expenses only.{{cite news |title=Rosewall hustles to £1,000 win |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19680429/202/0023 |url-access=subscription |work=Daily Mirror |date=29 April 1968 |issue=20012 |page=23 |access-date=2 October 2021 |via=British Newspaper Archive}} Five months later, after turning professional, she won the women's singles championship at the first US Open (and prize-money of $6,000 - ${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|6000|1968|r=0}}}} today), defeating Billie Jean King in the final. Her second Major tennis singles championship came in 1972 at the Australian Open when she defeated Australian Evonne Goolagong in the final 6–4, 6–4. She was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 Birthday Honours for services to lawn tennis.{{London Gazette |issue=45984 |date=2 June 1973 |page=6489 |supp=y}}

Wade won Wimbledon in 1977. It was the 16th year in which she had played at Wimbledon, and she secured her first appearance in the final by beating the defending champion Chris Evert in the semifinal 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. In the final, she beat Betty Stöve in three sets to claim the championship, nine days before her 32nd birthday. 1977 was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Wimbledon Championships as well as the Silver Jubilee year of Elizabeth II, who attended the final for the first time since 1962.{{cite news |title=Wade hopes for Jubilee repeat |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/wimbledon/2036120.stm |publisher=BBC Sport |date=9 April 2017 |access-date=17 February 2024}}[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10399688 "Queen returns to Wimbledon after 33 years"]. BBC News. 24 June 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2017

Wade also won four Major women's doubles championships with Margaret Smith Court – two of them at the US Open tennis tournament, one at the Australian Open, and one at the French Open. In 1983, at the age of 37, she won the Italian Open women's doubles championship with Virginia Ruzici of Romania.

Over her career, Wade won 55 professional singles championships and amassed $1,542,278 in career prize money. She was ranked in the world's top 10 continuously from 1967 to 1979. Her career spanned a total of 26 years. She retired from singles competition at the end of the 1985 tennis season, and then from doubles at the end of 1986. She played at Wimbledon on 26 occasions, an all-time record;{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/rogerfederer/10926645/Wimbledon-2014-Britains-Jamie-Delgado-smashes-record-with-23rd-consecutive-All-England-Club-appearance.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/rogerfederer/10926645/Wimbledon-2014-Britains-Jamie-Delgado-smashes-record-with-23rd-consecutive-All-England-Club-appearance.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Wimbledon 2014: Britain's Jamie Delgado smashes record with 23rd consecutive All England Club appearance|work=The Telegraph|date=25 June 2014}}{{cbignore}} 24 of those times were in the women's singles.{{cite web|url=http://2017.wimbledon.com/en_GB/draws_archive/player_profile.html?id=238dbbd8-dc38-49fc-96d0-d73d198ec35a|title=Player Profile - The Championships, Wimbledon 2017 - Official Site by IBM|last=Wade|first=Virginia|year=2017|website=Official Wimbledon website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016085029/http://2017.wimbledon.com/en_GB/draws_archive/player_profile.html?id=238dbbd8-dc38-49fc-96d0-d73d198ec35a|archive-date=16 October 2018|access-date=16 October 2018}}

After tennis

Since 1981, while she was still playing, Wade has been a reporter on tennis events for the BBC.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/sport/virginiawade.shtml|title=Biographies – Virginia Wade|publisher=BBC|access-date=19 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106044803/http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/biographies/biogs/sport/virginiawade.shtml|archive-date=6 January 2009}} In 1982, she became the first woman to be elected to the Wimbledon Committee.{{cite web|url=http://virginia-wade.com/|title=Official Website of Virginia Wade O.B.E - Last British Women's Wimbledon Tennis Singles Champion, 1977|access-date=5 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180808081753/http://virginia-wade.com/|archive-date=8 August 2018|url-status=dead}}

Wade was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1986 Birthday Honours for services to lawn tennis.{{London Gazette |issue=50551 |date=14 June 1986 |page=11 |supp=y}}

In 1989, Wade was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.{{cite web|url=http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=113|title=International Tennis Hall of Fame|access-date=17 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070304104809/http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=113|archive-date=4 March 2007|url-status=dead}}

Significant finals

=Grand Slam finals=

==Singles: 3 (3 titles)==

class='sortable wikitable'
style="width:40px"|Result

!style="width:40px"|Year

!style="width:150px"|Championship

!style="width:50px"|Surface

!style="width:160px"|Opponent

!style="width:140px" class="unsortable"|Score

bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1968US OpenGrass{{flagicon|USA}} Billie Jean King6–4, 6–2
bgcolor="#ffffcc"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1972Australian OpenGrass{{flagicon|AUS}} Evonne Goolagong6–4, 6–4
bgcolor="#ccffcc"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1977WimbledonGrass{{flagicon|NED}} Betty Stöve4–6, 6–3, 6–1

==Women's doubles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runner-ups)==

class='sortable wikitable'
style="width:40px"|Result

!style="width:40px"|Year

!style="width:150px"|Championship

!style="width:50px"|Surface

!style="width:160px"|Partner

!style="width:160px"|Opponents

!style="width:140px" class="unsortable"|Score

bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1969US OpenGrass{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr
{{flagicon|USA}} Darlene Hard
6–0, 3–6, 4–6
bgcolor="#ccffcc"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1970WimbledonGrass{{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr{{flagicon|USA}} Rosie Casals
{{flagicon|USA}} Billie Jean King
2–6, 3–6
bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1970US OpenGrass{{flagicon|USA}} Rosie Casals{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court
{{flagicon|AUS}} Judy Tegart Dalton
3–6, 4–6
bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1972US OpenGrass{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr
{{flagicon|NED}} Betty Stöve
3–6, 6–1, 3–6
bgcolor="#ffffcc"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1973Australian OpenGrass{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|AUS}} Kerry Harris
{{flagicon|AUS}} Kerry Melville
6–4, 6–4
bgcolor="#ebc2af"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1973French OpenClay{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr
{{flagicon|NED}} Betty Stöve
6–2, 6–3
bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1973US OpenGrass{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|USA}} Rosie Casals
{{flagicon|USA}} Billie Jean King
2–6, 6–3, 7–5
bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#98fb98;"|Win

1975US OpenClay{{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|USA}} Rosie Casals
{{flagicon|USA}} Billie Jean King
7–5, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
bgcolor="#ccccff"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1976US OpenClay{{flagicon|URS}} Olga Morozova{{flagicon|RSA|1928}} Linky Boshoff
{{flagicon|RSA|1928}} Ilana Kloss
1–6, 4–6
bgcolor="#ebc2af"

| style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss

1979French OpenClay{{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr{{flagicon|NED}} Betty Stöve
{{flagicon|AUS}} Wendy Turnbull
6–3, 5–7, 4–6

=Year-end championships finals=

==Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)==

class='sortable wikitable'
style="width:40px"|Result

!style="width:40px"|Year

!style="width:150px"|Location

!style="width:50px"|Surface

!style="width:160px"|Partner

!style="width:160px"|Opponents

!style="width:140px" class="unsortable"|Score

style="background:#98fb98;"|Win1975Los AngelesCarpet (i){{flagicon|AUS}} Margaret Court{{flagicon|USA}} Rosie Casals
{{flagicon|USA}} Billie Jean King
6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–2), 6–2
style="background:#ffa07a;"|Loss1977New YorkCarpet (i){{flagicon|FRA}} Françoise Dürr{{flagicon|TCH}} Martina Navratilova
{{flagicon|NED}} Betty Stöve
5–7, 3–6

Singles titles (78)

:Bold type indicates a Major championship

(Source: WTA{{cite web|title=Player profile – Virginia Wade|url=http://www.wtatennis.com/players/player/230044/title/virginia-wade|website=Women's Tennis Association (WTA)}})

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

{{Performance key|short=yes|active=no}}

class="wikitable" style=font-size:97%
bgcolor="#efefef"

! Tournament !! 1962 !! 1963 !! 1964 !! 1965 !! 1966 !! 1967 !! 1968 !! 1969 !! 1970 !! 1971 !! 1972 !! 1973 !! 1974 !! 1975 !! 1976 !! colspan="2"| 1977 !!1978 !!1979 !!1980 !!1981 !!1982 !! 1983 !! 1984!! 1985 !! Career SR

style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Australia

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#00ff00;" | W

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 1 / 5

style="background:#EFEFEF;" | France

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|1R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| colspan="2" align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|1R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|1R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 0 / 14

style="background:#EFEFEF;" | Wimbledon

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|1R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| colspan="2" align="center" style="background:#00ff00;" | W

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 1 / 24

style="background:#EFEFEF;" | United States

| align="center" |A

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|4R

| align="center" style="background:#00ff00;" | W

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:yellow;" | SF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| colspan="2" align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#ffebcd;"|QF

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|3R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|1R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" style="background:#afeeee;"|2R

| align="center" |A

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 1 / 20

style="background:#EFEFEF;" | SR

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 1

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |1 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |1 / 4

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 4

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| colspan="2" align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |1 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 2

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 4

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 4

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" |0 / 3

| align="center" style="background:#EFEFEF;" | 3 / 63

colspan=27 align=left|Career statistics
align=left|Year-end ranking

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

|align="center" |

| align="center" bgcolor="#d8bfd8" |2

| align="center" bgcolor="#99ccff" |3

| align="center" bgcolor="#eee8aa" colspan="2" |4

| align="center" bgcolor="#eee8aa" |4

| align="center" bgcolor="#eee8aa" |8

|align="center" |15

|align="center" |30

|align="center" |59

|align="center" |42

|align="center" |61

|align="center" |89

|

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Personal life

{{multiple image

| footer = Girl with a Dolphin (1973)

| image1 = Girl with a dolphin in London, spring 2013 (2).JPG

| alt1 = Front view of Girl with a dolphin (1973)

| width1 = 217

| image2 = Dolphin And Aquarius (147644385).jpeg

| alt2 = Back view of Girl with a dolphin (1973)

| width2 = 150

}}

Wade has no children and has never married. She has said "If I'd done better earlier, and my career had been at its peak earlier and I'd faded, I would probably have had a totally different life." She lives mostly in New York and in Chelsea, London.{{cite news|url=http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2007/jun/18/tennis.stephenmoss|title=Virginia Wade interview: 'I prefer to live in the present'|date=18 June 2007|work=The Guardian}}

She posed for sculptor David Wynne for the 17-foot-high fountain Girl with a Dolphin, installed at Tower Bridge in 1973.{{cite news |last=Hodgkinson |first=Thomas W. |title=The naked girl with a dolphin at Tower Bridge? That's me, says Virginia Wade |url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/art/article/the-naked-girl-with-a-dolphin-at-tower-bridge-thats-me-says-virginia-wade-0nsfbb2vs |work=The Sunday Times |date=5 November 2023 |access-date=6 November 2023 |issn=0140-0460}}

See also

References

{{reflist|30em}}