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Billie Jean King is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. She was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups.
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sports · American tennis player (born 1943) · tennis player · tennis coach · sports commentator · writer · athlete · also Billie Jean King, King
Born 22 November 1943 · Q54527
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“I would have to pick Billie Jean at her best. Consistently, Chris [Evert] is hardest to beat but for one big occasion, one big match, one crucial point, yes, it would have to be Billie Jean.”
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“I think that may be the single match in my career that I could have won if I hadn”
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“Maybe I can be happy being number eight instead of number one. At this stage, just playing, that”
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“Retire? Quit tournament tennis? You gotta be kidding. It just means I”
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“I probably played so well because I had to, for the money. Out of frustration comes creativity. Right?”
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“If you want the match that badly, you can have it!”
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“Everything changed when he beat Margaret, one of the best, perhaps the most physically imposing female players that tennis had ever seen. Now we had something to prove. It wasn”
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“I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn”
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BBC: Norwich struggles to assist king - Tzolis could be Arsenal gem
Public attention spiked: 17,996 Wikipedia readers in one day, 8.7× the usual 2,063, with 0 article edits.
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Public attention spiked: 14,945 Wikipedia readers in one day, 7.2× the usual 2,063, with 0 article edits.
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Public attention spiked: 10,585 Wikipedia readers in one day, 5.1× the usual 2,063, with 1 article edits. Editors noted: The early years: 1959–1963 c/e
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Public attention spiked: 13,594 Wikipedia readers in one day, 6.6× the usual 2,063, with 1 article edits.
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With the first game played between New York and Toronto in Toronto
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The Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises purchased the intellectual property and other key elements of the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), a professional women's hockey league in the United States and Canada
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King competed in season ten of The Masked Singer as "Royal Hen"
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Was awarded the French Legion of Honour, and in 2024, she received a Congressional Gold Medal
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The Federation Cup was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in her honor
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Won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award
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King sold her majority ownership stake of the league to Mark Ein and Fred Luddy
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Awarded VH1 Trailblazer Honors (2016).
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The day of the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
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Won Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by Barack Obama (2009).
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King published the book Pressure is a Privilege: Lessons I've Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes
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Awarded California Hall of Fame (2006).
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Awarded Philippe Chatrier Award (2003).
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King dismissed Capriati from the Fed Cup team, saying Capriati had violated rules that forbade bringing along and practicing with personal coaches
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Awarded Library of Congress Living Legend (2000).
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Awarded Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame (1999).
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King was elected to serve on the board of directors of Philip Morris Incorporated, garnering some criticism from anti-tobacco groups
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Awarded Elizabeth Blackwell Award (1998).
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And helped Lindsay Davenport, Gigi Fernández, and Mary Joe Fernández capture Olympic gold medals
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Awarded Sarah Palfrey Danzig Award (1995).
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Awarded Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame (1995).
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Awarded National Women's Hall of Fame (1990).
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And in 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in New York City was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
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Awarded International Tennis Hall of Fame (1987).
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Reached the semi-finals in her final appearance at Wimbledon, losing to Andrea Jaeger 6–1, 6–1 after beating Kathy Jordan in the quarterfinals, seventh-seeded Wendy Turnbull in the fourth round, and Rosemary Casals,
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King didn't play singles, but partnered Sharon Walsh in the women's doubles, reaching the semi-finals and Trey Waltke in the mixed doubles, losing in the second round
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King began a comeback, winning the Wimbledon warm-up tournament the 1982 Edgbaston Cup in Birmingham, her first singles title in more than two years
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When I was up 2–0 at the same stage, I was tired and didn't have anything left
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“Today, I looked at the scoreboard when I was 2–0 in the third set and the”
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Several top players were asked who they would pick to help them recover from a hypothetical deficit of 1–5 (15–40) in the third set of a match on Wimbledon's Centre Court
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“I have never had a run like this, even in the years when I was Wimbledon champion. At 34, I feel fitter than when I was 24.”
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King said that her doctors predicted in 1968 that her left knee would allow her to play competitive tennis for only two more years
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In that it was the first time ever that King competed at the championships that she did not reach a final
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“I wasted 1976. After watching Chris Evert and Evonne [Goolagong] Cawley play the final at Wimbledon I asked myself what I was doing. So, despite my age and the operations, the Old Lady came back....”
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King played singles only half the year, as she retired (temporarily, as it turned out) from tournament singles competition immediately after winning her sixth Wimbledon singles title
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Won the US Open Women with _Retired Tennis (1974).
Awarded Ladies' Home Journal Women of the Year (1974).
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She, with husband Larry King and Jim Jorgensen, founded womenSports magazine and started the Women's Sports Foundation
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World TeamTennis began, founded by Larry King, Dennis Murphy, Frank Barman and Jordan Kaiser
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Awarded Associated Press Athlete of the Year (1973).
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The US Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money for men and women
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At the age of 29, she famously won the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match against the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs
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King became the first president of the women's players union – the Women's Tennis Association
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King defeated Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match, winning $100,000 ($707,000 in 2024 terms)
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With Dennis Murphy, Jordan Kaiser, and Fred Barman and WTT began in 1974
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Won the US Open Women with _Retired Tennis (1972).
Won the French Open Women with _Retired Tennis (1972).
But received US$15,000 less than the men's champion Ilie Năstase
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Was the joint winner, with John Wooden, of the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award and was one of the Time Persons of the Year in 1975
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Made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a "career Grand Slam"
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Electing not to play the Australian Open despite being nearby when she played in New Zealand in late 1971
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And completed a career singles Grand Slam
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Won the US Open Women with _Retired Tennis (1971).
“I was twenty-eight years old, and I was at the height of my powers. I”
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Her husband, Larry King created the idea to form a nine player women's group with the financial backing of World Tennis magazine founder Gladys Heldman and the sponsorship of Virginia Slims chairman Joe Cullman
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This was the best year of her career in terms of tournaments won (17)
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Also in 1971, King had an abortion that was made public in a Ms. magazine article.
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King was the first female tennis player to earn $100,000 a year
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Though, because I really have the motivation now
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Margaret Court won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments and was clearly the World No
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As she had missed significant portions of 1971 and 1972 due to childbirth
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King earned US$100 a week as a playground instructor and student at California State University, Los Angeles when not playing in major tennis tournaments
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By 1968, King realized that she was attracted to women.
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Won the US Open Women with _Retired Tennis (1967).
Awarded Associated Press Athlete of the Year (1967).
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King criticized the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) in a series of press conferences, denouncing what she called the USLTA's practice of "shamateurism", where top players were paid under the table to guaran
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King defeated Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney (then 49 years old) for the first time in five career matches, winning their semi-final at the Southern California Championships 6–0, 6–3
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King won four relatively minor titles but lost to Margaret Court in the Wimbledon semi-finals
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To focus on tennis, but returned in 2025, completing her degree in history in May 2026 at age 82
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King again faced Margaret Court at Wimbledon
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Played for United States Billie Jean King Cup team (1963–1979).
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When the Long Beach Tennis Patrons, the Century Club, and Harold Guiver raised $2,000 to send her to Wimbledon
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Attended Los Angeles State College, now California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA)
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Played for United States Wightman Cup team (1961–1970).
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Until 1976, she had played in the final of one of the three championship events for women every year
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Reached the final of the National Girls' 18 and Under Championships, losing to Karen Hantze Susman
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Began working with new coaches including Frank Brennan and Alice Marble, who had won 18 Grand Slam titles as a player herself
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Born 1943-11-22.
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