Virginia Wade
| Full name | Sarah Virginia Wade |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 United Kingdom
|
| Born |
10 July 1945 Bournemouth, Dorset, England |
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) |
| Turned pro | 1968 |
| Retired | 1986 |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Prize money | $1,542,278 |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 1989 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 839–329 |
| Career titles | 55 |
| Highest ranking | No. 2 (3 November 1975) |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1972) |
| French Open | QF (1970, 1972) |
| Wimbledon | W (1977) |
| US Open | W (1968) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 42–48 |
| Highest ranking | No. 1 (1973) |
| Grand Slam Doubles results | |
| Australian Open | W (1973) |
| French Open | W (1973) |
| Wimbledon | F (1970) |
| US Open | W (1973, 1975) |
| Other doubles tournaments | |
| Tour Finals | W (1975) |
| Mixed doubles | |
| Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results | |
| French Open | SF (1969, 1972) |
| Wimbledon | QF (1981) |
| US Open | QF (1969, 1985) |
Sarah Virginia Wade, OBE (born 10 July 1945) is a former professional tennis player from Great Britain. She won three Grand Slam singles championships and four Grand Slam doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments. She was ranked as high as No. 2 in the world in singles, and No. 1 in the world in doubles. She won the women's singles championship at Wimbledon on 1 July 1977, in that tournament's centenary year, and was the last British tennis player to have won a Grand Slam singles tournament until Andy Murray won the US Open in 2012. She remains the last British female to have won a Grand Slam singles title. After retiring from competitive tennis, she coached for four years and has also worked as a tennis commentator and game analyst for the BBC and Eurosport.
On 10 July 1945, Wade was born in Bournemouth, England. Her father was the Archdeacon of Durban.
At age one, Wade was moved to South Africa with her parents. In South Africa, Wade learned to play tennis. When Wade was 15, the family moved back to England and she went to Tunbridge Wells Girls' Grammar School and Talbot Heath School, Bournemouth. In 1961 Wade was in the tennis team of Wimbledon County Girls' Grammar School. She went on to study 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 open era. In 1968, she scored two notable firsts. As an amateur, she won the inaugural open tennis competition — the British Hard Court Open at Bournemouth. She turned down the US$720 first prize. Five months later, she had turned professional and won the women's singles championship at the first US Open (and prize-money of $6,000)($41,322 today), defeating Billie Jean King in the final.
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