CLASS OF 1989

Virginia
Wade

Virginia Wade
Biography
Career Highlights
Born
July 10, 1945 in Bournemouth, England
Player Style
Right-handed
Category
Recent Player
TOP RANKING
World No. 2 (1975)

7-TIME MAJOR CHAMPION, 6-TIME FINALIST

55
CAREER TITLES
72.33%

OVERALL WIN PERCENTAGE

881-377
OVERALL RECORD
839-329
SINGLES RECORD
42-48
DOUBLES RECORD

Wightman Cup
Member of the British Wightman Cup Team 1965-1985
Member of the winning team 1968, 1974, 1975, 1978

Fed Cup
Member of the British Federation Cup Team 1967-1970, 1972-1983
- Overall Record: 66-33
- Singles Record: 36-20
- Doubles Record: 30-13

Grand Slams

AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Singles

Winner: 1972

Doubles

Winner: 1973
Semi-Finalist: 1972

FRENCH OPEN

Doubles

Winner: 1973
Finalist: 1979

Mixed Doubles

Semi-Finalist: 1969, 1972

WIMBLEDON

Singles

Winner: 1977
Semi-Finalist: 1974, 1976, 1978

Doubles

Finalist: 1970
Semi-Finalist: 1966, 1967, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979

US OPEN

Singles

Winner: 1968
Semi-Finalist: 1969, 1970, 1975

Doubles

Winner: 1973, 1975
Finalist: 1969, 1970, 1972, 1974, 1976
Semi-Finalist: 1965, 1966, 1977, 1978
Grand Slam Results
Career Timeline

  • As a 23-year old she won the inaugural US Open, doing so as the No. 6 seed with a stunning and unexpected 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 1 seed Billie Jean King.

  • Her biggest non-major victory came on on clay at the 1971 Italian Open, when she defeated Helga Niessen Masthoff, 6-4, 6-4.

  • With her doubles victory with Margaret Court at the French Open over Betty Stöve and Françoise Dürr, 6-2, 6-3, Wade became the first and only British female player to win a title at all four majors.
  • Achieved World No. 1 ranking.
  • In July, the summer of the monarch’s Silver Jubilee, Wade won her third major title at Wimbledon, with nicely coincided with Wimbledon’s centenary year. Queen Elizabeth II presented Wade with championship trophy.
  • With her victory in London, Wade was the last Brit to win the Wimbledon singles until Andy Murray in 2013. 
  • She published her autobiography, Courting Triumph, in 1978.

  • Following retirement, Wade stayed active in tennis, serving as an analyst for the BBC and various U.S. networks.