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Sarah Virginia Wade (born July 10 1945, in
Bournemouth, England) is a former tennis player
from the United Kingdom. During her career, she
won three Grand Slam (tennis)|Grand Slam singles
titles and five Grand Slam doubles titles. She is
particularly remembered for winning the women's
singles title at Wimbledon Championships|Wimbledon
in the championship's Centenary year in 1977.

Wade was born in England in 1945. She learned to
play tennis in South Africa, where her parents
moved when she was one year old. When Virginia was
15, the family moved back to England and she went
to Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School. She went
on to read mathematics and physics at the
University of Sussex, graduating in 1966.

Wade's tennis career spanned the end of the
amateur era and the start of the Tennis Open
Era|open era. In 1968 she scored two notable
firsts. As an amateur she won the inaugural tennis
open competition – the British Hard Court Open
at Bournemouth. She turned down the US$720 first
prize. Five months later she had become a
professional and captured the women's singles
title at the first U.S. Open (tennis)|US Open
tournament (and prize-money of US$6,000). She beat
Billie Jean King in the final in straight sets
6-4, 6-2. 

Wade's second Grand Slam singles title came in
1972 at the Australian Open. She defeated Evonne
Goolagong in the final 6-4, 6-4. 

Wade's most famous victory came at Wimbledon in
1977. It was the 17th year in which Wade had
played at Wimbledon, and she made her her first
appearance in the final by beating the
defending-champion Chris Evert in the semi-finals
6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In the final, she faced Betty
Stove. Not only was 1977 the 100-year anniversary
of the founding of the Wimbledon Championships,
but it was also the 25th year of the reign of
Queen Elizabeth II, and the queen attended the
championships for the first time in a
quarter-century to watch the women's final. In a
dramatic final, Wade beat Stove in three sets 4-6,
6-3, 6-1 to claim the title, nine days short of
her 32nd birthday. Wade received the trophy from
her queen and the delighted Centre Court crowd
burst into a chorus of "For She's a Jolly Good
Fellow!" to celebrate the British triumph. 

Wade also won five Grand Slam women's doubles
title partnering Margaret Court – three at the
US Open, one at the Australian Open, and one at
the French Open.

Wade was coached by Jerry Teeguarden (father of
the professional player Pam Teeguarden).

Over her career, Wade won 55 professional singles
titles amassed US$1,542,278 in career prize money.
She was ranked in the world's top-10 continuously
from 1967-1979. Her career spanned a total of 26
years. She finally retired in 1987.

In 1982, Wade became the first woman to be elected
to the Wimbledon Committee.

Since retiring from tennis, Wade has commentated
on tennis events for the BBC.

In 1989, Wade was inducted into the International
Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island.


==External links==

*wta|id=230044|name=Virginia Wade
*http://www.tennisfame.com/enshrinees/virginia_wad
e.html International Tennis Hall of Fame profile


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