Virginia Wade: a Wimbledon champion written out of British history | Sport | The Guardian
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Virginia Wade: a Wimbledon champion written out of British history
The Andy Murray headlines have ignored the fact that a Briton won a Wimbledon singles title in 1977. Ah, but she was a woman
Virginia Wade with her trophy after winning the Wimbledon women's singles championship in 1977. Photograph: Pa/PA Archive/Press Association Ima
Monday 8 July 2013 07.18 EDT
First published on Monday 8 July 2013 07.18 EDT
Age: 67.
Appearance: Airbrushed. Out of history.
Who or what is Virginia Wade ? Until last Sunday, the last British tennis player to win Wimbledon.
Huh? When? 36 years ago. Back in 1977.
Then how come I've never heard of her? Because journalists have forgotten she exists.
Ouch. And, on the front page of the Telegraph: "After 77 years, the wait is over. "
Oof. And, on the front page of the Daily Mail: "Andy Murray ends 77 years of waiting for a British champion."
Jeez. Even the Daily Mail forgot about her win? Yep. Which is especially unforgivable, since they also published an interview with her, in which she told the paper: "You never forget how it feels to win Wimbledon."
Incredible. So where does the 77-year figure come from? That's the figure for the men's championships. The last British man to win before Murray was Fred Perry in 1936.
Meaning the real wait was actually just 41 years? No, in reality, British tennis fans were never made to wait at all. Dorothy Round Little won the women's singles – for the second time in her career – one year later, in 1937.
So there have been two British winners since? No, actually there have been four.
Four British women have won Wimbledon since Fred Perry? Yep. Partially deaf player Angela Mortimer won the championship in 1961, and underdog Ann Haydon-Jones beat legend of the sport Billie Jean King to win again in 1969.
This is a dark day for sports journalism, isn't it? Afraid so. But a good day for feminist writer Chloe Angyal, whose tweet "Murray is indeed the first Brit to win Wimbledon in 77 years unless you think women are people" has been re-tweeted, at time of writing, 9,425 times.
That's a lot, right? It is. But it only really counts when men re-tweet it.
Do say: "If Murray wins, he's British. If he loses, he's Scottish."
Don't say: "If Wade wins, she's forgotten."