Sarah Virginia Wade was born on 10 July 1945 in Bournemouth, the youngest of four children. When she was one, the family moved to South Africa, where her father became Archdeacon of Durban. She began playing tennis at nine. At 15 she returned to England, settling in Tunbridge Wells, and she went on to graduate from the University of Sussex in 1966 with a degree in mathematics and physics, playing tennis part-time.
In April 1968, still an amateur, she won the first tournament of the Open Era, the British Hard Court Championships at Bournemouth. That September she won the first US Open, beating Billie Jean King 6–4, 6–2 in the final. Her second major singles title came at the 1972 Australian Open, where she beat Evonne Goolagong 6–4, 6–4. In doubles she won the Australian, French and US titles with Margaret Court in 1973 and the US title again in 1975, becoming the first British woman to win a title at all four majors.
Wimbledon took her 16 attempts. In 1977, the tournament's centenary year and Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, the Queen agreed to attend the final for the first time since 1962. Wade beat the defending champion Chris Evert in the semifinals and Betty Stöve in the final, nine days before her 32nd birthday, and the crowd broke into "For She's a Jolly Good Fellow". She was named WTA Player of the Year and BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
She was Britain's No. 1 woman for more than a decade and spent 13 consecutive years in the world top 10, winning 55 singles titles. She played the Federation Cup for 17 years and the Wightman Cup for 21, from 1965 to 1985. She retired in the mid-1980s (sources give 1985 or 1986), became the first woman elected to the Wimbledon Committee and worked as a commentator for the BBC and American networks.