American tennis great Billie Jean King broke down many barriers through out her professional career and she continues to do the same till date.
American tennis great Billie Jean King broke down many barriers through out her professional career and she continues to do the same till date.
From pushing for equal prize money for women to becoming one of the first well-known openly gay athletes, the legend became a female leader.
King's early sport was softball; at age 10, she played shortstop on a team of 14- and 15-year-old girls that won the city championship.
However, her parents suggested she try a more "ladylike" sport, and at age 11, she began to play tennis on the Long Beach public courts.
Billie Jean King became the top-ranked women's tennis player by 1967. It was in 1973 that she formed the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and famously defeated Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes."
A look at her life journey as she celebrates her 76th birthday today (November 22).
(All pictures are from Twitter)
1. Rise to No. 1
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King won her first major singles championship at Wimbledon in 1966. She successfully defended that title in each of the following two years.
She then added her first US Open singles championship in 1967 and her only Australian Open triumph the following year. In 1968, she became the world's No. 1 ranking in women's tennis.
Renowned for her speed, net game and backhand shot, King was a regular presence in the winner's circle in singles, doubles and mixed-doubles tournaments over the next few years.
In 1972, she won the US Open, French Open and Wimbledon to claim three Grand Slam titles in one year.
2. 'Battle of the Sexes' and the movie
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One of the biggest accomplishments would be her 1973 match against former men's champion Bobby Riggs. Dubbed as the "Battle of the Sexes," the 55-year-old Riggs assumed that after he easily defeated multi-time champion Margaret Court in the "Mother's Day Massacre" of May 1973, he could defeat King as well.
The match took place on September 20, 1973, at the Houston Astrodome. King entered the court carried by four muscular men, while Riggs rolled in on a rickshaw pulled by a team of women called "Bobby's Bosom Buddies."
King handily beat Riggs in straight sets before an estimated television audience of 90 million viewers.
Afterward, King acknowledged the pressure she felt and said, "I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn't win that match. It would ruin the women's tour and affect all women's self-esteem."
The move:
The story of the 1973 King-Riggs match spawned the 2017 feature film 'Battle of the Sexes', starring Emma Stone as King and Steve Carell as Riggs.
The film drew strong reviews, with both Stone and Carell earning Golden Globe nominations for their performances.
The saga also been dramatized in the 2001 TV Movie 'When Billie Beat Bobby', which featured Holly Hunter as the tennis champ and Ron Silver as her opponent.
3. Equal pay, WTA and WTT
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King who always spoke her mind jolted the tennis establishment with her views on equal payouts to both genders.
In 1970, she joined the brand-new Virginia Slims Tour for women, and in 1971, she became the first female athlete to top $100,000 in prize money in a single year.
In 1973, King spearheaded the formation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She used her status of being the most celebrated player and threatened to boycott the 1973 US Open if the pay inequality was not addressed.
Her demands were met and the US Open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money to women and men.
4. About her sexuality
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The tennis star had married Larry King in 1965 but she soon found herself wrestling with her feelings for other women.
Her private affairs soon became public with a lawsuit brought by her former female personal assistant and lover in 1981.
King who was the first prominent woman athlete to admit her homosexuality, lost her endorsements but became a torchbearer for the LGBT community.
She divorced her husband in 1987 and settled into a long-term relationship with former player Ilana Kloss.
5. Tennis and LGBT Ambassador
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King was named in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987 and remained closely tied to the sport throughout the 1990s as a television commentator.
She also served as captain of the US team at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. In her honor, in 2006, the New York City facility - that hosts the US Open - was renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
King's has earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. She also served as acting director for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the National AIDS Fund.
Named to the US delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, King embraced the designation that honored her athletic achievements and also made a political statement in opposition of Russia's anti-gay legislation.
