1978 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles 1978 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Virginia Wade was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Chris Evert. Martina Navratilova defeated her rival Evert in the final, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 1978 Wimbledon Championships. This was Navratilova's first of 18 Grand Slam singles titles and a record nine Wimbledon singles titles. This was the first time Wimbledon seeded 16 players for the ladies' championship, increasing the number from 12 in 1977. There have been at least 16 seeds in every championship since. Chris Evert "(Final)" As originally published Rosie Casals
2005 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles 2005 Wimbledon Championships – Women's Singles Maria Sharapova was the defending champion, but lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals. Venus Williams defeated compatriot and world No. 1 Lindsay Davenport in the final, 4–6, 7–6, 9–7 to win the Ladies' Singles tennis title at the 2005 Wimbledon Championships. It was the longest Wimbledon women's championship match in history, lasting two hours and 45 minutes. She became the first woman since Helen Wills in 1935 and the 1st in the open era to win the Wimbledon title after saving a match point against her. This was Venus's third Wimbledon singles title,