This week I wanted to look deeper into a tennis player that I do not know much about. I wanted the player to be well known but not of my generation. I decided to explore Billie Jean King’s tennis career. To be honest, I do not know a lot about her. I only know that she has a court named after her at the US Open and that she defeated a man, Bobby Riggs I think, in the “Battle of the Sexes” match. I think that she is definitely a tennis legend whose name will last through the ages just with that one match, but she has done so much more.
According to ESPN.com, King was ranked number one for five consecutive years. Also, she has won four US Open singles titles and six Wimbledon championships. However after all this, she is revered by most women (and maybe men) for her defeat of a 55-year-old man and former champion Bobby Riggs. Riggs had won Wimbledon in 1939.
Billie Jean King won the match in 3 sets, pummeling the former champion. This proved that women can compete just as well as men can, if not better. As a woman and a tennis player, I have a lot to thank Billie Jean King for. Women in tennis were not treated as equally as men. Men earned lots more than women did in those times. In essence, women were treated like second class players. Billie Jean King paved the way for future generations of women tennis players in the seventies.
King was fed up with this, and in 1972, King won the US Open and demanded that next year the prize money for men and women be equal at this tournament or she and the other women players would not show up. Her hardball tactics worked, and in 1973, the US Open offered equal winnings to both men and women. Billie Jean King was and still is a pioneer for women’s sports. She was named one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.”
In 1974, Billie Jean King founded “WomenSports magazine, started the Women’s Sports Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing athletic opportunities for females, and with her husband (Larry King), formed World Team Tennis,” according to ESPN.com. There is no doubt that King was a force to be reckoned with. The next year King was found to be the most admired woman in the world over Israel’s Prime Minister.
Even though King is now retired, she remains very actively involved in the game. She is an announcer, author, and coach. I bet King would be right out on the courts with the Williams sisters if she could; her passion for tennis is that evident and all-consuming.
According to ESPN.com, King was ranked number one for five consecutive years. Also, she has won four US Open singles titles and six Wimbledon championships. However after all this, she is revered by most women (and maybe men) for her defeat of a 55-year-old man and former champion Bobby Riggs. Riggs had won Wimbledon in 1939.
Billie Jean King won the match in 3 sets, pummeling the former champion. This proved that women can compete just as well as men can, if not better. As a woman and a tennis player, I have a lot to thank Billie Jean King for. Women in tennis were not treated as equally as men. Men earned lots more than women did in those times. In essence, women were treated like second class players. Billie Jean King paved the way for future generations of women tennis players in the seventies.
King was fed up with this, and in 1972, King won the US Open and demanded that next year the prize money for men and women be equal at this tournament or she and the other women players would not show up. Her hardball tactics worked, and in 1973, the US Open offered equal winnings to both men and women. Billie Jean King was and still is a pioneer for women’s sports. She was named one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.”
In 1974, Billie Jean King founded “WomenSports magazine, started the Women’s Sports Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and enhancing athletic opportunities for females, and with her husband (Larry King), formed World Team Tennis,” according to ESPN.com. There is no doubt that King was a force to be reckoned with. The next year King was found to be the most admired woman in the world over Israel’s Prime Minister.
Even though King is now retired, she remains very actively involved in the game. She is an announcer, author, and coach. I bet King would be right out on the courts with the Williams sisters if she could; her passion for tennis is that evident and all-consuming.
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