Wimbledon Review 1977
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In a memorable year for Wimbledon, 1977, 41 former singles champions were paraded on Centre Court to celebrate the centenary of The Championships.
Before the 1977 Championships began, many commentators gave Virginia Wade little more than an outside chance at the Ladies' Singles Championship. Although she had won the US Open in 1968, the Australian Open in 1972 and was twice a Wimbledon semi-finalist in 1974 and 1976, the consensus was that she was past her peak and at thirty-one, she was far older than exciting new talents such as America's Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova (then of Czechoslovakia, later USA) and Britain's Sue Barker.
However, Wade's victory couldn't have been scripted any better. Wade was a British player winning the Ladies' Championship in Wimbledon's centenary year, in front of the Queen during her Silver Jubilee year in 1977 (the last time the Queen has attended The Championships). As Wade stood alongside the Queen, clutching the Venus Rosewater Dish she was at the epicentre of one of Britain's greatest sporting moments.
Wade later said: "The atmosphere was phenomenal. I've never experienced anything like that in England other than football's 1966 World Cup. The place went absolutely crazy. It was a cauldron of excitement and celebration. It was humbling in a way. You immersed yourself in it and then you realised the reason for it was because you'd won. I had become a part of a major celebration.
"The Queen was chatting and I was trying to lip-read what she was saying but I never really heard what she said because there was so much commotion which included the crowd singing 'for she's a jolly good fellow'. The hundred-year anniversary made it special. It was a pretty big, romantic milestone. The Silver Jubilee celebrations made it extra special. It certainly helped me be more motivated than I had been."
Wade confessed she had almost given up hope of winning Wimbledon.
"It was my 16th attempt. I'd been trying since 1962. I'd virtually given up. On the big occasion you played either above or below yourself: never a normal game. You get little bits of inspiration but then other times you don't. But then, suddenly, it happened."
In the men's final Sweden's Bjorn Borg defeated top seeded American Jimmy Connors in an epic five-set match to claim his second of five successive titles.
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