Billie Jean King facts for kids

Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King in 2016
Born	Billie Jean Moffit November 22, 1943 (1943-11-22) Long Beach, California, U.S.
Height	1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Billie Jean King Country United States College California State University, Los Angeles Turned pro 1959 Retired 1983 Plays Right-handed (one handed-backhand) Prize money US$1,966,487 Int. Tennis HOF 1987 (member page) Singles Career record 695–155 (81.76%) Career titles 129 (67 during open era) Highest ranking No. 1 (1966) Grand Slam Singles results Australian Open W (1968) French Open W (1972) Wimbledon W (1966, 1967, 1968, 1972, 1973, 1975) US Open W (1967, 1971, 1972, 1974) Doubles Career record 87–37 (as shown on WTA website) Highest ranking No. 1 (1967) Grand Slam Doubles results Australian Open F (1965, 1969) French Open W (1972) Wimbledon W (1961, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1979) US Open W (1964, 1967, 1974, 1978, 1980) Mixed Doubles Career titles 11 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results Australian Open W (1968) French Open W (1967, 1970) Wimbledon W (1967, 1971, 1973, 1974) US Open W (1967, 1971, 1973, 1976) Team Competitions Fed Cup W (1963, 1966, 1967, 1976) (as player and captain) W (1977, 1978, 1979, 1996) (as captain)
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Billie Jean King (born Billie Jean Moffitt on November 22, 1943 in Long Beach, California) is an American retired tennis player. She is considered one of the greatest female tennis players. She won many championships during her career, which started in 1959 and ended in 1983. She was known for speaking against sexism in sports and society. She started the Women's Tennis Association, World TeamTennis, and the Women's Sports Foundation. Her most famous match was in 1973. It was called "The Battle of the Sexes" and was with Bobby Riggs, who had been a champion in the 1930s and 1940s. She loved playing tennis but had to stop after an injury.

Her brother is baseball player Randy Moffitt.

Billie Jean King grew up poor. It was hard for her parents to support her. Her father was an engineer for a fire department. Her mother was a housekeeper. Her father had two jobs. Her mother sold Tupperware to pay for King’s tennis competitions. King’s family could not pay to join their local tennis club. Therefore, King learned at public tennis courts.

King was interested in fighting for the rights of women in tennis. When she was seventeen years old, King played doubles in Wimbledon. She and her partner, Karen Hantze, won the match. They became the youngest women players to win that match at Wimbledon. Even though she won this competition, she didn't want to focus on tennis completely yet.

King joined a community college and married Larry King. The marriage ended in 1987 after Billie Jean fell in love with her doubles partner, Ilana Kloss. Billie Jean and Larry remained on good terms, with Billie Jean serving as godmother to Larry's son from his subsequent marriage. Billie Jean King has residences in New York City and Chicago with Kloss, her life partner.

She is famous for winning a competition called the Battle of the Sexes against Bobby Riggs in 1973. This was one of the first tennis matches when a man played against a woman. Winning this match really helped her speak about sexism. She used tennis and the Battle of the Sexes to prove that women are as good at sports as men. She was important in tennis and helped the voice of women.

In 2018, she won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.

Grand Slam statistics

Grand Slam single finals

18 finals (12 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Loss	1963	Wimbledon	Grass	Margaret Court	3–6, 4–6
Loss	1965	U.S. Championships	Grass	Margaret Court	6–8, 5–7
Win	1966	Wimbledon	Grass	Maria Bueno	6–3, 3–6, 6–1
Win	1967	Wimbledon (2)	Grass	Ann Haydon-Jones	6–3, 6–4
Win	1967	U.S. Championships	Grass	Ann Haydon-Jones	11–9, 6–4
Win	1968	Australian Championships	Grass	Margaret Court	6–1, 6–2
Win	1968	Wimbledon (3)	Grass	Judy Tegart-Dalton	9–7, 7–5
Loss	1968	US Open	Grass	Virginia Wade	4–6, 2–6
Loss	1969	Australian Open	Grass	Margaret Court	4–6, 1–6
Loss	1969	Wimbledon	Grass	Ann Haydon-Jones	6–3, 3–6, 2–6
Loss	1970	Wimbledon	Grass	Margaret Court	12–14, 9–11
Win	1971	US Open (2)	Grass	Rosemary Casals	6–4, 7–6(5–2)
Win	1972	French Open	Clay	Evonne Goolagong	6–3, 6–3
Win	1972	Wimbledon (4)	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	6–3, 6–3
Win	1972	US Open (3)	Grass	Kerry Melville Reid	6–3, 7–5
Win	1973	Wimbledon (5)	Grass	Chris Evert	6–0, 7–5
Win	1974	US Open (4)	Grass	Evonne Goolagong	3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win	1975	Wimbledon (6)	Grass	Evonne Goolagong Cawley	6–0, 6–1

Grand Slam tournament timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (NH) not held. SR=strike rate (events won/competed)

Singles

Tournament	'59	'60	'61	'62	'63	'64	'65	'66	'67	'68	'69	'70	'71	'72	'73	'74	'75	'76	'77	'78	'79	'80	'81	'82	'83	'84	SR	W–L
Australian Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	SF	A	A	W	F	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A/A	A	A	A	A	QF	2R	A	1 / 5	16–4
French Open	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	SF	QF	QF	A	W	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	3R	A	A	1 / 7	21–6
Wimbledon	A	A	2R	QF	F	SF	SF	W	W	W	F	F	SF	W	W	QF	W	A	QF	QF	QF	QF	A	SF	SF	A	6 / 21	95–15
US Open	1R	3R	2R	1R	4R	QF	F	2R	W	F	QF	A	W	W	3R	W	A	A	QF	A	SF	A	A	1R	A	A	4 / 18	63–14
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 3	1 / 2	2 / 3	2 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 2	1 / 2	3 / 3	1 / 2	1 / 2	1 / 1	0 / 0	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 0	12 / 51	195–39

• Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Images for kids

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  Billie Jean King speaking at an event in Des Moines, Iowa

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  Billie Jean Moffitt (later King) at the Irish Open at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin in the 1960s where she won her first international title

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  Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973

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  King in 1978 photographed by Lynn Gilbert (1978)

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  The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center