Billie Jean King
Billie
Jean King was born in long Beach California and educated at Los Angeles State
College.
At
the age of 11 she began playing tennis in the cities public parks. She had a
powerful personality and made up for her shortcomings in athleticism.
King
won the United States women’s singles in 1967, 1971, 1972 and 1974. The
women’s doubles in 1964, 1967, 1974, 1978 and 1980, and the mixed doubles in
1967, 1971, 1973 and 1976. She was the only woman to win United States singles
titles on four surfaces grass, indoor, clay, and hard court.
King
holds the record for British titles, with a total of 20 championships. She won
the women’s doubles at Wimbledon in 1961, 1962 and 1965, before achieving her
first major singles there in 1966. She went on to win the Wimbledon singles in
1967, 1968, 1968, 1972, 1973 and 1975, women’s doubles in 1967, 1968, 1970,
1971, 1972, 1973, and 1979 and mixed doubles in 1967, 1971, 1973 and 1974.
Knee
injuries forced King to retire from singles, but she made a comeback in her late
thirties.
The
first woman professional athlete to be paid more than 100,000 dollars in a
single year was Billie Jean King, in 1971. She retired in 1981.
Stephen Devoy & Shane
O’Connor.