BILLIE JEAN KING

~ 1943 ~
WOMAN TENNIS SUPERSTAR

The epitome
of the scrappy, passionate,
utterly aggressive,
contemporary female athlete,
Billie Jean King
made women�s tennis
every bit as exciting to watch
as men�s tennis.

Off court,
she fought for prize money
that reflected
the new equity.

From 1961, when she won
her first Wimbledon
Women�s Singles title,
to her retirement
in the mid 1980s,
King dominated her sport
and still holds the record
for Wimbledon victories
with twenty wins.

In 1973, when she excepted
a Battle Of The Sexes challenge
from former men�s Wimbledon champion
Bobby Riggs,
a confirmed male chauvinist,
King was indisputably
one of the greatest
female players in history.

A record crowd of 30,472
at the Houston Astrodome
and forty million TV viewers
witnessed Rigg�s defeat ~
a straight-set
6-4, 6-3, 6-3 victory
for the bespectacled
twenty-nine year old superstar,
who remained
one of Riggs' closest friends
until his death in 1995.

King�s most lasting achievements
may have come off court.

She cofounded
The Women�s Tennis Association,
a players� union,
and was the first woman ever
to be named
Sportswoman Of The Year
by Sports Illustrated.

~ BILLIE JEAN KING COMMENTS ~

I realize now that being
number one isn't glamorous.
It's more like being
the fastest gun in the West.
You can never let up,
because you have
to prove yourself against all comers.

People want realism,
and sports provide that.
What they see on TV
is rehearsed, edited and cut.
When they see me
sweating my guts out,
missing the ball
and getting angry.
That's real.

I don't like to win against men.
But there are young women
who love to beat their boyfriend
because they get so upset.
Well now, that's got to be a switch.

Everyone was getting
into the man vs. woman thing.
At that time it was the height
of the women's movement.
It helped a lot of people realize
that everyone can have skills
whether you are a man or woman
as well as helping men and women
understand each other.

Champions keep playing
until they get it right.