martina navratilova defeated her rival chris evert in the final, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5 to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 1978 wimbledon championships. virginia wade was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to chris evert. 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.