Billie Jean King
Tennis
Billie Jean King was born in 1943 in Long Beach California. Her first tennis lesson began when she was 11. She had one goal in her mind and that was to be number 1 in the world. She was in the top ten from when she was 17 until she retired in 1984. She had won a total of 10 Wimbledon titles,5 US open titles, and the French and Australian open. She was ranked number 1 seven times in her life. She was the 1st woman to win more then 100,000 dollars in 1 year.
King was the beginning of women's tennis. She fought for the equality of women in prizes in major tournaments. She founded the Women's tennis Association and the Women's Sports Foundation. She confronted male chauvinism in tennis directly in 1973 in the 'Battle of the Sexes' where she beat Bobby Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
In 1989 she became the first woman commissioner in professional sports history. She spoke out for all women's rights and sports and she became one of the greatest tennis players in history.
During her career she won fame and fortune by leading women's rights but also winning all of tennis' top prizes, including 20 Wimbledon titles (six singles, 10 doubles, and four mixed doubles).
She acknowledged a relationship with her secretary, Marilyn Barnett, in 1981
after Barnett unsuccessfully sued King, alleging that the latter had promised to
support her for life.
|
|
 |
|
|
Reading: Billie Jean King and Frank Deford, (1982), "Billie Jean", New York: Viking.
This page was last modified on 11 June 2005