Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King: Profile

Ms. King is one of the most illustrious and celebrated tennis players in history and is recognized for spearheading the women''s movement in tennis and for her life-long struggle for equality in women’s tennis. She empowered women and educated men when she defeated Bobby Riggs in one of the greatest moments in sports history—the Battle of the Sexes in 1973.

In 1990, Life magazine named Billie Jean King one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” In 1994, she ranked No. 5 on Sports Illustrated’s “Top 40 Athletes” list for significantly altering or elevating sports the last four decades.

Ms. King, who resides in New York and Chicago, has been heralded as an ardent defender of equal rights for all humankind. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974 to advance the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity and, in 1987, she established World Team Tennis Charities, Inc. to promote health, fitness, education, and social change.

In 1998, Billie Jean King became the first athlete to receive the prestigious Elizabeth Blackwell Award, which is given by Hobart and William Smith College to a woman whose life exemplifies outstanding service to humanity. In February 1999 she won the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage for her fight to bring equality to women’s sports.

Off the court, Ms. King remains active in a number of important causes. She serves as a director on several boards including the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

Ms. King has coached Olympic and Fed Cup teams. She led the U.S. squad to four Olympic medals and the 1976, 1996, 1999 and 2000 Fed Cup titles. In 2003, she was awarded the prestigious Philippe Chatrier Award, the International Tennis Federation’s highest honor and was one of six inaugural inductees into the Court of Champions at the United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Tennis Center.

Billie Jean King’s biggest honor in tennis came on August 28, 2006, the National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open, was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, in honor of her contributions to tennis, sports and society both on and off the court. On October 17, 2006, she was honored once again when the National Sports Museum and the Women’s Sports Foundation announced that the Billie Jean King International Women’s Sports Center, the first hall of fame dedicated to women’s sports will be housed at the National Sports Museum when it opens in New York City in 2008.

Ms. King won a record 20 Wimbledon titles with six of them in singles, won the U.S. Open four times, the French Open in 1972, and the Australian Open in 1968. She was ranked No. 1 in the world five times between 1966 and 1972 and was in the Top 10 a total of 17 years. She is the only woman to win U.S. Open singles titles on all 4 surfaces on which it has been played (grass, clay, carpet, and hard.) She’s also one of only eight women to hold a singles title in each of the Grand Slam events.

In 1970, Billie Jean King was one of nine players who broke away from the tennis establishment and accepted $1 contracts from tennis promoter Gladys Heldman in Houston. The revolt led to the formation of the Virginia Slims Tour and Women’s Tennis Association. In 1971, she was the first woman athlete to win more than $100,000 in any sport. In 1974, she became the first woman to coach a professional team with men when she served as player/coach for the Philadelphia Freedoms of World TeamTennis.

Ms. King is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the National Women’s Hall of Fame. She is the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association, the Women’s Sports Foundation and Women’s Sports Magazine.