Tennis era ends with retirement

Press, 24 December 1985, Page 20

Tennis era ends with retirement

Virginia Wade’s announcement that she has played her last singles in a grand slam event brings to an end an important era in British women’s tennis as well as an illustrious international sporting career. The retirement of the 40-year-old Miss Wade, a former Wimbledon, United States and Australian champion, means that no* longer will there be a British winner of a grand slam singles event competing on the international circuit —

an achievement that women from Britain have maintained since 1955 when Angela Mortimer won the French championship. In competitive terms this might not sound significant, but if the record of the British men is anything to go by it is ominous. Fred Perry in 1936 was the last to win a grand slam singles event — the championships of Wimbledon, United States, France and Australia. Since then, no British man has even reached the

final of a major singles and for the last 15 years the overall standard of the British men and boys can only be called depressing. Mediocrity in a country breeds mediocrity and it is a vicious circle to break. There has never been any mediocrity about Miss Wade. Her athleticism, balance and natural strength marked her apart. She did not like to compromise, she played close to

the lines and often low over the net. Until her mid-twen-ties, there never seemed to be a second or third gear available, it was overdrive, the fast lane and quite often a crash. Instead of playing full time at a young age she studied for a degree in maths and physics at Sussex University but she was already the ‘great hope’ and was to suffer from the usual British pressures of expectation, particularly at Wimbledon.

The atmosphere there made her tense, her matches were emotional occasions and the crowds rode the rollercoaster with her. It was at Forest Hills on grass in the United States championships rather than at Wimbledon , that she gained her first grand slam victory in 1968. It was an astonishing win in many respects. At Wimbledon the same year Miss Wade had won the Plate, rather than star in the main event, yet at Forest Hills she outplayed Billie Jean King in the final. ' :

Her victory in the 1972 Australian championship when she beat Evonne Goolagong was not so unexpected but she did not start favourite.

By Wimbledon 1977, with ,no more grand slam wins to her name, her chances of winning in centenary year, her sixteenth attempt at the title, were dismissed. Miss 1 Wade, however, arrived from the United States with a short style haircut and a short message that it was “her year.” As Billie Jean and Martina Navratilova fell in turn and Miss Wade eliminated Chris Lloyd in the semi-final with a brilliant display, the realisation dawned that she was right

She has since become the first woman on the committee of the Ail Club, a television commentator and a successful coach to young players. The overdrive may have gone but she still possesses every other gear and she retains that unique mark of class we long to see in young British players. SHIRLEY BRASHER T London