The daughter of a British archdeacon, Virginia Wade, now 65, took up tennis as a child growing up in South Africa and honed her game when she moved back to England at 15. She earned a university degree in mathematics and physics before going on to win the first-ever Open Era tournament at Bournemouth in 1968 and the U.S. Open the same year. In the late ’60s, Wade distanced herself from the so-called Original 9 — the female players, including Billie Jean King and Kerry Melville Reid, who set up their own tennis circuit to protest the lack of exposure and lower prize money female players received relative to their male counterparts. Wade avoided political wrangling and, if anything, sided with the Establishment (though she eventually became a regular on the new tour). She’s perhaps best known for winning Wimbledon on her 17th try in 1977 — the Queen’s jubilee year and Wimbledon’s centenary. No British player has come close since.