Billie Jean King was 20 and Larry 19 years old and married on September 17, 1965 in Long Beach. King's triumph at the French Open in 1972 made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a "career Grand Slam." She also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. In women's doubles, only the Australian Open eluded her. King won a record 20 career titles at Wimbledon – six in singles, 10 in women's doubles, and four in mixed doubles. King played 51 Grand Slam singles events from 1959 through 1983,
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