Virginia Wade
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Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. She won three
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
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 Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
won the 2012 US Open, and was the most recent British woman to have won a major singles title until
Emma Raducanu Emma Raducanu (born 13 November 2002) is a British professional tennis player. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) on 11 July 2022, and is the current British No. 1. Raducanu is the first British ...
won the 2021 US Open. After retiring from competitive tennis, she coached for four years, and has also worked as a tennis commentator and game analyst for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
and
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and
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in the U.S.


Early life

Wade was born in
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, England, UK, on 10 July 1945. Her father was the archdeacon of
Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
. At one year old, Wade moved to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
with her parents. There, she learned how to play tennis. When she was fifteen, the family moved back to England and she went to
Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School (TWGGS), established in 1905, is an all-female selective school in Royal Tunbridge Wells, a town in Kent, England. The "eleven plus" examination represents the main entrance criterion, along with residence ...
and
Talbot Heath School Talbot Heath School is a selective, private day and boarding School for girls aged 3–18 located in Talbot Woods, Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The school was established in 1886 and was previously known as Bournemouth High School for Girls. ...
, Bournemouth. In 1961, she was in the tennis team of Wimbledon County Girls' Grammar School. She went on to study mathematics and physics at the
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
, graduating in 1966.


Tennis career

Wade's tennis career spanned the end of the amateur era and the start of the
open era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
. 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. Five months later, after turning professional, she won the women's singles championship at the first US Open (and prize-money of $6,000 - $ today), defeating
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
in the final. Her second Major tennis singles championship came in 1972 at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. There, she defeated Australian
Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...
in the final 6–4, 6–4. She was appointed a member of the
Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(MBE) in the
1973 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 1973 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were published on 2 June 1973 for ...
for services to lawn tennis. Wade won
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
in 1977. It was the 16th year in which she had played at Wimbledon, and she made her first appearance in the final by beating the defending champion
Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...
in the semifinal 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. In the final, she beat
Betty Stöve Betty Flippina Stöve (born 24 June 1945) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 19 ...
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 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...
, who attended the final for the first time since 1962. Wade also won four Major women's doubles championships with
Margaret Smith Court Margaret Court ('' née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, her 24 m ...
– two of them at the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, one at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, and one at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. In 1983, at the age of 37, she won the Italian Open women's doubles championship with
Virginia Ruzici Virginia Ruzici (born 31 January 1955) is a former professional tennis player from Romania. She won the 1978 French Open singles championship. Career Ruzici became a professional tennis player in 1975. One of her main assets on court was her po ...
of Romania. Over her career, Wade won 55 professional singles championships and amassed $1,542,278 dollars 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. The 26 times that she played at Wimbledon is an all-time record, 24 of those times being in the women's singles.


After tennis

Since 1981, while she was still playing, Wade has been a reporter on tennis events for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. In 1982, she became the first woman to be elected to the Wimbledon Committee. Wade was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1986 Birthday Honours for services to lawn tennis. In 1989, Wade was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. It honors both players and other contributors to the sport of tennis. The complex, the former Newport Casino, includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indo ...
in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, ...
.


Major finals


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 3 (3 titles)


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


Year-end championships finals


Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)


Singles titles (55)

:''Bold type indicates a Major championship'' *1968 – US Open, Bloemfontein, Bournemouth, East London,
Dewar Cup London The Dewar Cup Finals also known as the Dewar Cup London was an indoor tennis event held from 1968 through 1976. For the initial two years staged at the Crystal Palace and subsequently at the Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a conc ...
*1969 – Cape Town, Hoylake,
Dewar Cup Perth The Dewar Cup Perth was an indoor tennis event held from 1968 through 1969 and played in Perth, Scotland as part of the Dewar Cup circuit of indoor tournaments held throughout the United Kingdom. Results Men's singles Men's doubles Women's ...
, Dewar Cup Stalybridge, Dewar Cup Aberavon, Dewar-Crystal Palace, East London *1970 – German Indoors, West Berlin Open, Irish Open, Stalybridge, Aberavon *1971 – Cape Town, Catania Open, Rome, Newport-Wales,
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Dewar Cup Billingham, Dewar-Aberavon, Dewar Cup Final-London, Clean Air Classic *1972 –
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, VS Indoors-Mass., Merion, Buenos Aires *1973 – Dallas, Bournemouth, Dewar-Aberavon, Dewar Cup Edinburgh, Dewar-Billingham, Dewar Cup Final-Albert Hall *1974 – VS Chicago,
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...
, VS Phoenix, Dewar-Edinburgh, Dewar Cup-London *1975 – VS Dallas, VS Philadelphia, Paris Indoors,
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
, Dewar Cup, Stockholm *1976 – U.S. Indoor Championships, Dewar Cup *1977 –
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, World Invitational Hilton Head, Tokyo Sillook *1978 – Mahwah, Tokyo Sillook, Florida Open (Source: WTA)


Grand Slam singles performance timeline

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


Personal life

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.


See also

* Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final


References


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Virginia 1945 births Alumni of the University of Sussex Australian Open (tennis) champions BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners British expatriates in South Africa British female tennis players English female tennis players English sports broadcasters English sports coaches English tennis coaches French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles International Tennis Hall of Fame inductees Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Talbot Heath School People educated at Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School Sportspeople from Bournemouth Sportspeople from Durban Tennis commentators US Open (tennis) champions Wimbledon champions World number 1 ranked female tennis players