Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King 1943-, American tennis player, b. Long Beach, Calif., as Billie Jean Moffitt. She began playing tennis at age 11 and enjoyed success from age 15 when she won the Southern California championship in her age group. She won 67 tournament titles and 20 Wimbledon titles, including singles in 1966-68, 1972-73, and 1975. She was the U.S. Lawn Tennis women's singles champion in 1967, 1971-72, and 1974. In 1973 she defeated Bobby Riggs in a "battle of the sexes." An aggressive, hard-hitting competitor, she turned professional in 1968. Very active in the women's rights movement, particularly in the area of equality of wages, in the 1970s she was one of the founders of the Women's Tennis Association and cofounded a magazine, Womensport.

King, Billie Jean (1943– ), tennis champion and advocate of women's equality in sport.Born in Long Beach, California, Billie Jean King learned tennis on public courts under the tutelage of Clyde Walker and later honed her skills with the help of former champion Alice Marble and Australian Mervyn Rose. One of the most successful women's tennis players of all time, King captured many championships during a playing career that spanned more than two decades. Included among these were six singles, four mixed doubles, and ten doubles titles at Wimbledon; four singles, four mixed doubles, and four doubles titles at the U.S. Open; one Australian Open singles title; and one singles and one doubles title in the French Open. She also competed for several years on both the U.S. Federation and Wightman Cup teams, defeated Bobby Riggs in a much ballyhooed “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973, and served in 1974 as the player‐coach for the Philadelphia Freedoms in World Team Tennis. Besides her exploits on the court, King founded Women Sports magazine, coauthored five books on tennis technique, and wrote two autobiographies. Her many awards include the Associated Press Athlete of the Year, Sports Illustrated Sports Woman of the Year, the United States Lawn Tennis Association Service Bowl, and the Marlboro award (along with husband Larry King) for promoting tennis through public clinics. She was also honored by election into the Women's Sports Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.
See also Feminism; Sports: Professional Sports.

Bibliography

Marshall Buchard , Sports Hero, Billie Jean King, 1975.
James Hahn and and Linda Hahn , King! The Sports Career of Billie Jean King, 1981.

David K. Wiggins