1966 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles 1966 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Margaret Smith was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Billie Jean King. King defeated Maria Bueno in the final, 6–3, 3–6, 6–1 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1966 Wimbledon Championships. The second round match in which Gail Sherriff beat her sister Carol was the second match between sisters in the ladies' singles draw at Wimbledon, the first being in the 1884 Wimbledon Championships when Maud Watson beat Lillian. The next Wimbledon match between sisters in the singles draw was in 2000 between Serena and Venus Williams. Margaret
Billie Jean King fall of 1964 and married in Long Beach, California, on September 17, 1965. Billie Jean credited Larry with introducing her to feminism and for pushing her to pursue tennis as a career. Billie Jean later said she "was totally in love with Larry" when they married. By 1968, King realized that she was attracted to women, and in 1971, began an intimate relationship with her secretary, Marilyn Barnett (born Marilyn Kathryn McRae on January 28, 1948). Billie Jean acknowledged the relationship when it became public in a May 1981 "palimony" lawsuit filed by Barnett, making Billie Jean the first prominent