Billie Jean King: A Champion for Equal Opportunity

Billie Jean King's accomplishments on the tennis court are well known to many.  She was ranked as the world's No. 1 player seven times between 1966 and 1974.  She won 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 U.S. Open titles and has won both the French and Australian Opens.  In 1972, Billie Jean became the first woman and the first tennis player to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

King's off court efforts and activities must be noted.  Billie Jean and other high-profile female athletes worked together to advocate the 1972 passage of Title IX.  This ground-breaking legislation paved the way for equal opportunity for girls/women in high school and college sports.

Billie Jean "led a crusade to guarantee women equal prize money at major tennis tournaments".  In fact, after King won the 1972 U.S. Open she noted her check was significantly less than the one for the male tennis champion.  She thanked the tournament's sponsor but promised to boycott the next year's tournament if women tennis players were not paid equally.

King continued to be a determined and relentless promoter of equal prize money for men and women. When thanked for her committment to equal pay for women's tennis, King stated "I want people to know that everything I do is for both genders.  I am appreciative of their comments, but I didn't do it for women's tennis...I did it for tennis".

Billie Jean King retired from singles tennis in 1983 and doubles in 1990, however she has been a very active and involved retiree. Since then she has "written eight books, received honorary degrees from several universities, named a Global Mentor for Equity by UNESCO and honored by the United State Tennis Association when they renamed the venue that hosts the U.S.Open the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center".