Billie Jean King the first of her six singles titles at Wimbledon and the first of twelve Grand Slam singles titles overall, defeating Court in the semifinals 6–3, 6–3 and Maria Bueno in the final. King credited her semifinal victory to her forehand down the line, a new shot in her repertoire. She also said that the strategy for playing Court is, "Simple. Just chip the ball back at her feet." At the U.S. Championships, an ill King was upset by Kerry Melville Reid in the second round. King successfully defended her title at the South African Tennis Championships in 1967, defeating Maria
Larry King (tennis) public in a "Ms." magazine article. Larry had revealed Billie Jean's abortion without consulting her. In 1976, King invented a smokeless ashtray, called The Clean Air King. Billie Jean became the major owner of World Team Tennis in 1984. Larry and Billie Jean King divorced in 1987. When Larry and Billie Jean lived in San Mateo, California, they became good friends with Charles Schulz, creator of the comic strip "Peanuts", and with his wife, Jean. They played tennis in Schulz's Indoor Hockey Arena in Santa Rosa, California with many other professional tennis players. King and Denis Murphy also founded Roller