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Billie Jean King
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Billie Jean King (born November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California) is a retired tennis player from the United States. During her career, she won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She is generally considered to be one of the greatest tennis players and female athletes in history. King has been an outspoken advocate against sexism in sports and society. The tennis match for which she is best remembered by the public is the "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973, in which she defeated the former Wimbledon men's champion Bobby Riggs.
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As one of the 20th century’s most respected women, Billie Jean King has long been a champion for social change and equality. King created new inroads for women in and out of sports during her legendary career and she continues to make her mark today. Among her many accomplishments are:
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Billie Jean King dominated women's tennis for nearly two decades, retiring from professional play in 1984. She won her first Wimbledon title in 1962, beating top-seeded Margaret Smith. King won 20 Wimbledon titles, 6 of them singles. In 1973 she played men's player Bobby Riggs, who had publicly proclaimed no woman could beat him (the previous year he had beaten Court). The stunt was dubbed "The Battle of the Sexes," and when King trounced Riggs she became a feminist icon. After retiring she worked as a coach, television commentator and businesswoman.
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Billie Jean King says she wouldn't mind taking fellow lesbian Rosie O'Donnell's spot on The View. Socialiterank.com will post no more, but its (still anonymous) founders do have a book deal. Arthur Sulzberger Jr. was marginally insensitive toward deaf people at the New York Times Co. annual meeting. American Idol contestants put on a private performance at Rupert Murdoch's house. Christie's exec John Hays made a quip about Katie Couric at the Children for Children benefit. Cameron Diaz went shopping in Soho, then freaked out when the paparazzi showed up.
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IMPACT ON THE '60s: Like figure skater Peggy Fleming, Billie Jean King's career in the '60s can be summarized by a single word -- domination. Playing at Wimbledon in '62 when she was only eighteen, Billie Jean won the doubles championship, the first of a record twenty Wimbledon titles she would eventually own. Then from '66-'68 Billie Jean won three straight singles championships at Wimbledon, the doubles championship in '67 and '68, and the mixed doubles title in '67. In '67 she was the first woman in almost thirty years to take the triple crown of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles championships at both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, an incredible accomplishment. Other championships she won during the decade included the Australian Open in '68. As the world's top-ranked amateur player, in '68 she turned pro, and within three years she was the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 in a single year; by ... being an outspoken advocate of women's rights, she changed the very nature of her sport, bringing prize money for women, and playing conditions, up to the status that men enjoyed, so that her ultimate legacy is not just as a tennis champion, but as a tennis pioneer.
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Billie Jean King was born in 1943 in Long Beach, California. When she was 11, her father William J. Moffitt thought it would be a good idea for her to learn to play tennis. As an adult it was hard for her being one of the only women to play tennis. She won the Wimbledon Singles Tournament six times [1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, and 1975], Wimbledon Doubles Tournament, ten times, and mixed doubles four times. She was ... successful at the United States Open Championships. She won the singles title four times and the doubles title five times.
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Billie Jean King