Billie Jean King - Wikipedia
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943), also known as BJK, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, she ...
Billie Jean King | Biography, Titles, & Facts | Britannica
Oct 29, 2024 · Billie Jean King (born November 22, 1943, Long Beach, California, U.S.) is an American tennis player whose influence and playing style elevated the status of women’s professional tennis beginning in the late 1960s. In her career, she won 39 major titles, competing in both singles and doubles.
Battle of the Sexes (tennis) - Wikipedia
The term is most famously used for an internationally televised match in 1973 held at the Houston Astrodome between 55-year-old Bobby Riggs and 29-year-old Billie Jean King, [4] which King won in three sets.
Billie Jean King - HISTORY
Nov 9, 2009 · In 1974, Billie Jean King became the first president of the Women’s Tennis Association. She headed up the first professional women’s tour, the Virginia Slims, in the 1970s.
Battle of the Sexes | History, Participants, & Facts | Britannica
Nov 6, 2024 · Battle of the Sexes, exhibition tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs that took place on September 20, 1973, inside the Astrodome in Houston. The match was something of a spectacle as the in-her-prime King defeated the 55-year-old Riggs in three straight sets, but the event nevertheless was a significant moment in the second ...
Billie Jean King - National Women's History Museum
In the early 1970s, King began a secret romantic relationship with another woman. She feared coming out because of her parents’ homophobia and potential harm the news could cause the women’s tennis tour. King was publicly outed as a lesbian in 1981 and immediately lost all her endorsement deals.
Billie Jean King triumphs in “Battle of the Sexes” - HISTORY
Nov 24, 2009 · On September 20, 1973, in a highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, top women’s player Billie Jean King, 29, beats Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. 1 ranked men’s player.
Billie Jean King Made Sports History at the Battle of the Sexes - Biography
Sep 19, 2017 · Billie Jean King holds her trophy high after beating Bobby Riggs in their $100,000 winner-take-all “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. Decades later, the match remains a cultural touchstone...
Billie Jean King - Movie, Quotes & Career - Biography
Jun 21, 2024 · 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. But she simmered over the smaller...
The Battle of the Sexes - Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
In 1970, King rebelled when she discovered that the Pacific Southwest Open was going to award the male winner $12,500 and the female winner $1,500. When the promoter refused to narrow the gap, King and eight of the other top women players organized a boycott.