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Billie Jean King: Sports
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On Sept. 28, the morning of the GLBTHS's annual gala, tennis legend Billie Jean King enjoyed a tour of the Sporting Life exhibit. (lt - rt) Ms. King, board member Ruth Mahaney, Executive Director Terence Kissack, and moi, guest curator Jim Provenzano.
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On August 28, 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. John McEnroe, Venus Williams, Jimmy Connors, and Chris Evert were among the speakers during the rededication ceremony. The center is the largest sports facility in the world to be named after a woman.
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CAREER OUTSIDE THE '60s: As a young girl growing up in Southern California, Billie Jean's favorite sport was softball. When she took her first tennis lesson at age eleven, she immediately declared to her parents that she would one day be the best player in the world. Billie Jean attended California State University, Los Angeles, and in 1960, at the age of seventeen, she was already ranked among the world's top-ten players. After the '60s, she continued her winning ways by taking the singles title at Wimbledon in '72, '73, and '75, the doubles crown from '70-'73 and '70, and the mixed-doubles championship in '71, '73, and '74. She ... won the singles title at the U.S. Open in '71 and '74, totaling thirteen U.S. Open titles in all, and she won singles at the French Open in '72. She also took 29 Virginia Slims singles titles.
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Billie Jean grew up in Long Beach, California with her brother, Randy Moffit, her father, a firefighter, and her mother, a homemaker. From early on Billy Jean and Randy could be counted on to play just about any sport. Billy Jean’s first favorite sport was softball; she didn’t get into tennis until she was 11 years old. Once she took her first few swings of the racquet... tennis became her focus. Billie Jean’s parents worked hard to support her; tennis was largely a sport known to country clubs and wealthier families, not a family of four living on a firefighter’s salary. Despite these obstacles, Billie Jean emerged a competitive, talented player who was on her way to the top ranks in the sport.
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Billie Jean won a record 20 Wimbledon titles. She was ranked No. 1 in the world five times between 1966 and 1972, and was in the Top 10 for a total of 17 years (beginning in 1960). She has had a career of firsts. In 1968, she was the first woman of the open era to sign a pro contract. In 1971, she was the first woman athlete to win more than $100,000 in any sport. She is the only woman to ever win the U.S. Open singles titles on all four surfaces on which it has been played (grass, clay, carpet, and hard courts).
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Although her place in tennis has certainly been secured as one of the all-time greats, King remains active in the sport she loves. She co-founded World TeamTennis in 1974 and remains active in both the WTT Professional League and WTT Recreational League. King, who has coached Olympic and Fed Cup teams, led the U.S. squad to four Olympic medals and the 1976, 1996, 1999 and 2000 Fed Cup titles. In 2003 she received two of the tennis worlds highest honors. King was awarded the prestigious Philippe Chatrier Award, the International Tennis Federations highest honor, recognizing individuals for contributions to tennis and was one of 6 inaugural inductees into the Court of Champions at the USTA National Tennis Center.
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