Courting Triumph: Virginia Wade

As the grass court season heads to the All England Club, it is the perfect time to read a memoir by one of the great British Wimbledon Champions. Courting Triumph is a deeply personal and introspective account of Virginia Wade’s tennis career. The book intersperses her life story between detailed descriptions of the Finals match when she won the Wimbledon title in 1977. It is a literary mechanism that works well for tennis.

It is somewhat embarrassing to admit that until I read her memoir this week, I had only a vague sense of Wade’s place in the game. I could not have fully detailed her accomplishments, including three Grand Slam Singles Championships and four Grand Slam Doubles titles. Her peak rankings were #2 in Singles and #1 in Doubles. She is the only British woman in history to win titles in all four majors.

Courting Triumph is a first-hand testimonial of many of the ideas shared in this site’s “12 Habits of Highly Successful Tennis Players” series of posts. Wade describes the intense pressure of competition at the highest levels. She also details how she dealt with the pressure at various points in her development journey. Her writing provides a rare and candid glimpse into players’ psychological battles on and off the court.

I particularly liked Wade’s thoughts on practice and training, many of which are still relevant to the modern game. She credits her first Wimbledon title with a fundamental change in how she prepared for competition. Those pages are a treatise on resolve and determination on how to train with intensity.

Wade’s sharp insights into the evolution of women’s tennis and the broad societal changes during her career were particularly fascinating. She glossed over the fact that she declined to join the “Original Nine,” which spared the necessity of explaining her absence. However, she joined the tour quickly after that. Wade wasn’t quite as enthusiastic as some of her higher-profile peers, even sharing a few examples of things she regarded as better before the dawn of the Open Era.

Courting Triumph is an exceptional memoir that provides a captivating glimpse into the life and career of Virginia Wade. The storytelling is charming and sincere. Wade’s triumphs, setbacks, and personal growth, are inspirational. This book is highly recommended for tennis history buffs.