<Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2015 </Td> <Td> Wimbledon Championships </Td> <Td> 2017 → </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> ← 2015 </Td> <Td> Wimbledon Championships </Td> <Td> 2017 → </Td> </Tr> <P> Serena Williams was the defending champion and successfully defended her title, defeating Angelique Kerber in the final, 7--5, 6--3 . By winning her seventh Wimbledon title, Williams equaled Steffi Graf's Open Era record of 22 major singles titles . This was also the first time two women contested two major finals against one another in a single season since Amélie Mauresmo and Justine Henin - Hardenne met in the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon finals . </P> <P> The top five seeds (Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza, Agnieszka Radwańska, Kerber and Simona Halep) were in contention for the world No. 1 ranking at the beginning of the tournament . However, Halep was removed from the contention at the end of third round, while Williams retained the top spot by reaching the fourth round and eventually winning the title . She also spent her 300th week at the top of the WTA rankings during the second week of the tournament, and won her 300th Slam match at the tournament by defeating Annika Beck in the third round . </P>

Who won the women's singles wimbledon championship 2016