American tennis champion and entrepreneur. One of the greatest women tennis players in the twentieth century, King put women’s tennis on the map in 1966 and has watched it expand ever since. With a stellar career including 20 Wimbledon titles from 1966 – 1979, the Australian Open in 1968, the French Open in 1972, winner of 29 Virginia Slims singles titles, five U.S. Open titles and five time winner of the Wightman Cup, by the age of 33 she had 19 career titles. King set the international standard for professionalism in women tennis as leader of the Women’s Professional Tennis Tour, initiated in October 1970. As Founder of the World Team Tennis League in 1984, she became the first female commissioner in the history of professional sports.
The daughter of a fireman and a homemaker, King and her younger brother Randy grew up in Long Beach, where King was a shortstop of some repute on a local softball team. Growing older, she realized that her potential in the sport was limited and as she wanted “to be in a sport where you could be considered a lady, her parents suggested tennis, a game unknown to her. King began playing tennis at 11. By 18 she won the women’s doubles at Wimbledon, then at age 24 she swept the US and British singles, doubles and mixed doubles and turned pro. Moving like a force of nature through the tennis courts of the world, she personified true grit coupled with high standards of professionalism, candor and leadership. By 1971, she was the first woman to win $100,000 in a year. In 1987, she was entered in the Hall of Fame.
An operation on her left knee in January 1976 handicapped King’s game. Competing the following year and still in pain, the legend lost her Wimbledon title to Chris Evert.
After retiring from pro tennis in 1983 and having four knee operations, King still keeps tennis the center of her life. A part-time coach for Martine Navratilova, and HBO commentator, she was the co- founder and publisher of “Women’s Sports and Fitness” in 1974. As C.E.O. of World Team Tennis, she boasts “it’s my dream. It’s part professional in the summer with players like Bjorn and Martina and Tracy Austin and Jimmy Connors. And then there’s the recreational side in 1,600 cities in the U.S., colleges and military bases and all these people playing. We even have a 90-and-over championship this year…..I’d still be out there if I had the wheels. . .This generation gets better, stronger, taller and faster. And the equipment. That big racket is so much better, so much easier to hit with. Even the shoes are better. The game is better.”
In her private life, Billie Jean admitted to having had an abortion. She married Larry King on 9/17/1965 and with her husband, promoted a variety of enterprises since 1977. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1985.
Link to Wikipedia biography