Virginia Wade

Virginia Wade
CBE

Full name	Sarah Virginia Wade
Country (sports)	United Kingdom
Born	(1945-07-10) 10 July 1945 Bournemouth, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Turned pro	1968 (amateur from 1962)
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 (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, 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.

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. 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.

Tennis career

Wade's tennis career spanned the end of the amateur era and the start of the Open Era. In April 1968, as an amateur, she won the inaugural open tennis competition – the British Hard Court Championships 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 - $54,253 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 in two sets. She was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1973 Birthday Honours for services to lawn tennis.

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 and top-seed Chris Evert in the semifinal in three sets. In the final, she beat seventh-seeded 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.

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; 24 of those times were 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. In 1982, she became the first woman to be elected to the Wimbledon Committee.

Wade was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1986 Birthday Honours for services to lawn tennis and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2025 Birthday Honours for services to tennis and to charity.

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

Significant finals

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 3 (3 titles)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
Win	1968	US Open	Grass	Billie Jean King	6–4, 6–2
Win	1972	Australian Open	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	6–4, 6–4
Win	1977	Wimbledon	Grass	Betty Stöve	4–6, 6–3, 6–1

Doubles: 10 (4 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1969	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Darlene Hard	6–0, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	1970	Wimbledon	Grass	Françoise Dürr	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	2–6, 3–6
Loss	1970	US Open	Grass	Rosie Casals	Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1972	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Win	1973	Australian Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Kerry Harris Kerry Melville	6–4, 6–4
Win	1973	French Open	Clay	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–2, 6–3
Win	1973	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	2–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	1975	US Open	Clay	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	7–5, 2–6, 7–6(7–5)
Loss	1976	US Open	Clay	Olga Morozova	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss	1–6, 4–6
Loss	1979	French Open	Clay	Françoise Dürr	Betty Stöve Wendy Turnbull	6–3, 5–7, 4–6

Year-end championships finals

Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner–up)

Result	Year	Location	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Win	1975	Osaka/Tokyo	Carpet (i)	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–2), 6–2
Loss	1977	New York	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve	5–7, 3–6

Career finals

Singles titles (78)

Bold type indicates a Grand Slam championship

• 1967 – Connaught Hard Courts
• 1968 – US Open, Bloemfontein, Bournemouth, East London, Dewar Cup London
• 1969 – Cape Town, Hoylake, Dewar Cup Perth, 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 International Open, Rome, Newport-Wales, Cincinnati, Dewar Cup Billingham, Dewar-Aberavon, Dewar Cup Final-London, Clean Air Classic
• 1972 – Australian Open, 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, VS Phoenix, Dewar-Edinburgh, Dewar Cup-London
• 1975 – VS Dallas, VS Philadelphia, Paris Indoors, Eastbourne, Dewar Cup, Stockholm
• 1976 – US Indoor Championships, Dewar Cup
• 1977 – Wimbledon, World Invitational Hilton Head, Tokyo Sillook
• 1978 – Mahwah, Tokyo Sillook, Florida Open

(Source: WTA)

Doubles

incomplete list

Result	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	Sep 1969	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Darlene Hard	6–0, 3–6, 4–6
Loss	Jul 1970	Wimbledon	Grass	Françoise Dürr	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	2–6, 3–6
Loss	Sep 1970	US Open	Grass	Rosie Casals	Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton	3–6, 4–6
Loss	Jan 1971	Perth, Australia	Grass	Winnie Shaw	Margaret Court Evonne Goolagong	4–6, 5–7
Win	May 1971	Rome, Italy	Clay	Helga Masthoff	Lesley Turner Bowrey Helen Gourlay	5–7, 6–2, 6–2
Win	Oct 1971	Billingham, UK	Hard (i)	Françoise Dürr	Evonne Goolagong Julie Heldman	6–3, 4–6, 6–2
Win	Oct 1971	London, UK	Hard (i)	Françoise Dürr	Evonne Goolagong Julie Heldman	3–6, 7–5, 6–3
Win	Oct 1971	Aberavon, UK	Hard (i)	Françoise Dürr	Evonne Goolagong Julie Heldman	7–5, 6–4
Loss	Nov 1971	Torquay, UK	Hard (i)	Françoise Dürr	Evonne Goolagong Julie Heldman	6–7, 4–6
Loss	No 1971	London, UK	Hard (i)	Françoise Dürr	Evonne Goolagong Julie Heldman	5–7, 4–6
Loss	Jan 1972	Sydney, Australia	Grass	Lesley Bowrey	Evonne Goolagong Patricia Edwards	1–6, 2–6
Win	Jan 1972	San Francisco, US	Carpet (i)	Rosie Casals	Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr	6–3, 5–7, 6–2
Win	Jan 1972	Long Beach, US	Carpet (i)	Rosie Casals	Helen Gourlay Karen Krantzcke	6–4, 5–7, 7–5
Win	Jan 1972	Boston, US	Carpet (i)	Rosie Casals	Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr	6–7, 6–0, 7–5
Loss	Feb 1972	Fort Lauderdale, US	Hard	Nancy Gunter	Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr	3–6, 2–6
Win	Aug 1972	Merion, US	Grass	Sharon Walsh	Brenda Kirk Pat Walkden-Pretorius	7–6, 6–2
Loss	Sep 1972	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	3–6, 6–1, 3–6
Win	Oct 1972	Billingham, UK	Hard (i)	Margaret Court	Patti Hogan Sharon Walsh	6–3, 6–2
Win	Oct 1972	Edinburgh, UK	Hard (i)	Margaret Court	Julie Heldman Betty Stöve	6–2, 6–3
Win	Nov 1972	Aberavon, UK	Hard (i)	Margaret Court	Julie Heldman Betty Stöve	6–0, 6–3
Win	Nov 1972	Torquay, UK	Hard (i)	Margaret Court	Brenda Kirk Sharon Walsh	6–4, 6–4
Win	Jan 1973	Australian Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Kerry Harris Kerry Melville	6–4, 6–4
Win	Mar 1973	Fort Lauderdale, US	Clay	Gail Chanfreau	Evonne Goolagong Janet Young	4–6, 6–3, 6–3
Loss	Mar 1973	Dallas, US	Hard	Gail Chanfreau	Evonne Goolagong Janet Young	3–6, 2–6
Win	Jun 1973	French Open	Clay	Margaret Court	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–2, 6–3
Win	Jun 1973	Rome, Italy	Clay	Olga Morozova	Martina Navratilova Renáta Tomanová	3–6, 6–2, 7–5
Win	Jul 1973	Dublin, Ireland	Grass	Margaret Court	Helen Gourlay Karen Krantzcke	8–6, 3–6, 6–4
Win	Jul 1973	Hoylake, UK	Grass	Karen Krantzcke	Patti Hogan Sharon Walsh	5–7, 6–4, 6–1
Win	Sep 1973	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	Oct 1973	Aberavon Cup, UK	Carpet (i)	Marita Redondo	Julie Heldman Ann Kiyomura	4–6, 6–3, 7–6
Win	Nov 1973	Edinburgh Cup, UK	Carpet (i)	Marita Redondo	Julie Heldman Ann Kiyomura	6–1, 2–6, 6–4
Win	Nov 1973	Billingham Cup, UK	Carpet (i)	Marita Redondo	Glynis Coles Sharon Walsh	6–7, 6–3, 6–2
Loss	Nov 1973	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Chris Evert	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss	6–7, 6–2, 1–6
Loss	Mar 1974	Dallas, US	Hard	Karen Krantzcke	Isabel Fernández de Soto Martina Navratilova	3–6, 6–3, 3–6
Win	May 1974	Bournemouth, UK	Clay	Julie Heldman	Patti Hogan Sharon Walsh	6–2, 6–2
Loss	Oct 1974	Houston, US	Carpet (i)	Sue Stap	Janet Newberry Wendy Overton	6–4, 5–7, 2–6
Win	Nov 1974	London, UK	Hard (i)	Sharon Walsh	Lesley Charles Sue Mappin	6–2, 6–7, 6–2
Loss	Jan 1975	San Francisco, US	Carpet (i)	Rosie Casals	Chris Evert Billie Jean King	2–6, 5–7
Loss	Jan 1975	Sarasota, US	Carpet (i)	Betty Stöve	Chris Evert Billie Jean King	4–6, 2–6
Loss	Mar 1975	Houston, US	Carpet (i)	Evonne Goolagong	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–2, 3–6, 6–7(2–5)
Win	Apr 1975	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	6–7(2–7), 7–6(7–2), 6–2
Win	Apr 1975	Amelia Island, US	Clay	Evonne Goolagong	Rosie Casals Olga Morozova	4–6, 6–4, 6–2
Win	Aug 1975	Harrison, US	Clay	Margaret Court	Chris Evert Martina Navratilova	5–7, 7–6, 4–6
Win	Sep 1975	US Open	Grass	Margaret Court	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	7–5, 2–6, 7–6
Loss	Nov 1975	Stockholm, Sweden	Carpet	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	3–6, 4–6
Loss	Nov 1975	Paris, France	Hard (i)	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–2, 0–6, 3–6
Loss	Nov 1975	Edinburgh/London, UK	Hard (i)	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	4–6, 6–7
Win	Jan 1976	Washington, US	Hard	Olga Morozova	Wendy Overton Mona Schallau	7–6, 6–2
Win	Jan 1976	Chicago, US	Hard	Olga Morozova	Evonne Goolagong Martina Navratilova	6–7(4–5), 6–4, 6–4
Loss	Sep 1976	US Open	Clay	Olga Morozova	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss	1–6, 4–6
Loss	Sep 1976	Atlanta, US	Carpet (i)	Betty Stöve	Rosie Casals Françoise Dürr	0–6, 4–6
Win	Nov 1976	London, UK	Carpet (i)	Betty Stöve	Rosie Casals Chris Evert	6–3, 2–6, 6–3
Win	Mar 1977	Philadelphia, US	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve	6–4, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	Apr 1977	Hilton Head, US	Clay	Françoise Dürr	Rosie Casals Chris Evert	6–1, 2–6, 3–6
Loss	Apr 1977	Tokyo, Japan	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Martina Navratilova Betty Stöve	5–7, 3–6
Win	Nov 1977	Palm Springs, US	Hard	Françoise Dürr	Helen Gourlay Cawley Joanne Russell	6–1, 4–6, 6–4
Loss	Dec 1977	London, UK	Hard (i)	Betty Stöve	Billie Jean King Renáta Tomanová	2–6, 3–6
Loss	Jan 1978	Hollywood, US	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Rosie Casals Wendy Turnbull	2–6, 4–6
Win	Feb 1978	Los Angeles, US	Carpet( i)	Betty Stöve	Pam Teeguarden Greer Stevens	6–3, 6–2
Loss	Mar 1978	Philadelphia, US	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Kerry Melville Wendy Turnbull	3–6, 5–7
Loss	Apr 1978	Salt Lake City, US	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Billie Jean King Martina Navratilova	4–6, 4–6
Win	Oct 1978	Atlanta, US	Carpet (i)	Françoise Dürr	Martina Navratilova Anne Smith	4–6, 6–2, 6–4
Win	Oct 1978	Brighton, UK	Carpet (i)	Betty Stöve	Mima Jaušovec JoAnne Russell	6–0, 7–6
Loss	Mar 1979	Philadelphia, US	Carpet (i)	Renée Richards	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	4–6, 2–6
Loss	Jun 1979	French Open	Clay	Françoise Dürr	Betty Stöve Wendy Turnbull	6–3, 5–7, 4–6
Loss	Feb 1980	Seattle, US	Carpet (i)	Greer Stevens	Rosie Casals Wendy Turnbull	4–6, 6–2, 5–7
Win	May 1983	Italian Open	Clay	Virginia Ruzici	Ivanna Madruga Catherine Tanvier	6–3, 2–6, 6–1

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977		1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	Career SR
Australia	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	W	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	2R	2R	2R	1 / 5
France	A	A	A	A	A	4R	A	2R	QF	1R	QF	3R	2R	A	A	A		A	2R	3R	4R	3R	1R	1R	2R	0 / 14
Wimbledon	2R	2R	2R	4R	2R	QF	1R	3R	4R	4R	QF	QF	SF	QF	SF	W		SF	QF	4R	2R	2R	QF	3R	3R	1 / 24
United States	A	A	4R	2R	QF	4R	W	SF	SF	A	QF	QF	2R	SF	2R	QF		3R	QF	3R	3R	1R	2R	2R	A	1 / 20
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	1 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 2	1 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	1 / 2		0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	3 / 63
Career statistics
Year-end ranking														2	3	4		4	8	15	30	59	42	61	89

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

Personal life

Girl with a Dolphin (1973)

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.

She posed for sculptor David Wynne for the 17-foot-high fountain Girl with a Dolphin, installed at Tower Bridge in 1973.

See also

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

External links

• Virginia Wade at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Virginia Wade at the Women's Tennis Association
• Virginia Wade at the International Tennis Federation
• Virginia Wade at the Billie Jean King Cup (archived)