Early Life and the Birth of a Champion

Billie Jean King was born Billie Jean Moffitt on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California. Growing up in a conservative, middle-class household, her parents—Betty, a homemaker, and Bill, a firefighter—encouraged her athletic ambitions from an early age. She tried softball and basketball before discovering tennis at the age of 11 on the public courts of Long Beach. Within a few years, she was winning local junior tournaments, but it was a slight at age 12 that lit a fire in her: she was excluded from a group photo because she refused to wear a tennis skirt, opting for shorts instead. That moment crystallized her awareness of the unequal treatment of women in sports.

King attended California State University, Los Angeles, where she played on the men’s tennis team because the women’s team did not exist. She turned professional in 1968, just as the Open Era began, allowing professionals to compete in Grand Slam events for the first time. But the newfound opportunity came with a glaring disparity: male players earned far more in prize money and received better scheduling, media attention, and facilities. King’s first Grand Slam singles title came at the 1966 U.S. Championships, and she went on to win 12 singles titles (including six at Wimbledon), 16 women’s doubles, and 11 mixed doubles—a total of 39 Grand Slam trophies. Yet even as she climbed to the top of the game, she saw her female colleagues struggling to make a living from tennis. The pay gap was staggering: at Wimbledon in 1968, the men’s singles champion earned £2,000 while the women’s champion earned just £750. King began asking tough questions, and she did not stop until the answers changed.

The Fight for Equal Pay: A Turning Point at Wimbledon

By 1970, King had had enough. She and eight other female players—including Rosemary Casals, Nancy Richey, Françoise Dürr, and Judy Tegart—signed $1 contracts with Gladys Heldman of World Tennis magazine to stage a breakaway tournament: the Virginia Slims Invitational in Houston. This was a direct challenge to the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) and the male-dominated power structure that controlled the majors. The tournament was a success, drawing large crowds and media coverage, and it gave birth to the professional women’s tennis tour.

King also turned her attention to the Grand Slams, particularly Wimbledon. In 1970 she publicly demanded that the All England Club increase the women’s singles prize money, arguing that women’s matches attracted comparable attendance and television ratings. The club’s response was glacial. King made equal pay a central issue of her career, leveraging her status as the world’s No. 1 player to keep the pressure on. In 1972, she threatened to boycott Wimbledon if the prize money disparity was not addressed. The club compromised by raising the women’s prize, but the gap remained wide. It would take 34 years of persistent activism before Wimbledon finally announced equal prize money in 2007. By then, the other three Grand Slams had already fallen into line: the US Open in 1973, the Australian Open in 2001, and the French Open in 2006.

“I never asked for special treatment. I asked for equal opportunity.” — Billie Jean King

King’s fight extended beyond prize money. She demanded that women’s matches be scheduled in prime time and on show courts. She insisted that female players have access to the same locker rooms, training facilities, and media accommodations as men. Each small victory paved the way for larger reforms. At the 1973 US Open, she convinced the USTA to offer equal prize money for the first time in Grand Slam history—a landmark achieved by threatening a player boycott. The US Open remains a model of gender equity, and its decision reverberated across the sport.

Founding the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)

In June 1973, the day before Wimbledon began, King and a small group of players gathered in a London hotel room to create the Women’s Tennis Association. The WTA’s founding mission was simple: to give women a unified voice in negotiations with tournaments, sponsors, and governing bodies. The first president was Billie Jean King, with Rosemary Casals and Nancy Richey serving on the board. The WTA organized the Virginia Slims tour, later renamed the WTA Tour, and standardized prize money, ranking systems, and rules.

The WTA’s impact on Grand Slam tournaments was transformative. Before the WTA, women’s matches at majors were often relegated to outer courts or scheduled at the worst possible times. The WTA made equal billing a non-negotiable demand. Over time, all four Slams adopted policies that placed women’s singles matches alongside men’s in the main stadiums, created parity in media coverage, and eliminated discriminatory practices. The WTA also introduced a transparent ranking system in 1975, which helped media and fans track player progress and increased interest in women’s Grand Slam events.

Key WTA Milestones That Changed the Grand Slams

  • 1973: WTA founded; begins negotiating directly with tournament directors for fair scheduling and prize money at each Slam.
  • 1975: Virginia Slims sponsorship secures a five-year, $1.5 million deal, lifting prize purses at all majors.
  • 1980: WTA collective bargaining agreement guarantees women’s singles prize money at Wimbledon and the US Open at a minimum of 80 % of the men’s.
  • 2007: Wimbledon finally achieves equal prize money for men’s and women’s singles, completing parity across all four Slams.

Today, the WTA represents more than 2,500 players from 90 countries and has a combined annual prize money pool of over $200 million. The foundation for that success was laid in that small hotel room in London, where King’s vision turned a collection of underpaid athletes into an organized force that could reshape the biggest tournaments in the world. For further details on the WTA’s history, see the WTA’s official timeline.

The Battle of the Sexes and Its Grand Slam Fallout

The 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs is one of the most famous sporting events of the 20th century. Riggs, a 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion and self-proclaimed male chauvinist, had challenged King after defeating Margaret Court in May 1973. King accepted, and on September 20, 1973, the two faced off at the Houston Astrodome in front of over 30,000 spectators and an estimated 90 million television viewers worldwide. King won in straight sets: 6–4, 6–3, 6–3.

The immediate impact on Grand Slam tournaments was seismic. The match shattered the long-held myth that women’s tennis was inferior entertainment. Television ratings for the US Open women’s final jumped by 40 % the following year, and sponsorship dollars flowed into the WTA. Tournament organizers began scheduling women’s singles finals as the marquee event on finals day—a practice that had been rare outside of the US Open. The match also directly influenced the Australian Open and French Open to increase their investment in women’s tennis, recognizing that equality was not only a moral imperative but a business opportunity. King’s victory became a powerful symbol that accelerated the professional growth of women’s Grand Slam events.

Transforming Each Grand Slam Tournament

King’s influence was personal and specific to each of the four Grand Slams. She met with tournament directors and governing bodies, leveraged the WTA’s growing power, and used public advocacy to push each event to adopt reforms.

Wimbledon

King’s relationship with the All England Club was complex—she revered its grass courts and tradition, but despised its entrenched sexism. She campaigned relentlessly for better changing facilities for women, earlier scheduling of women’s matches (which were often relegated to the second week’s first match), and fair prize distribution. Her efforts led to the creation of a Women’s Advisory Board at the club in the 1990s, and she personally lobbied every Wimbledon chairman she met. The breakthrough came in 2007, when the club announced equal prize money for all singles competitors. Today, Wimbledon honours King’s legacy by naming the women’s singles champion after her: the Billie Jean King Trophy was introduced in 2007.

US Open

The US Open was King’s first major victory. In 1973, she convinced the USTA to be the first Grand Slam to offer equal prize money for men’s and women’s singles champions. She also pushed for a comprehensive equality policy covering locker rooms, media training, and promotional materials. The US Open continues to lead in gender equity, and in 2023 it became the first Grand Slam to offer equal prize money for wheelchair and quad wheelchair events as well. King’s early triumph at the US Open set a precedent that the other Slams followed over the next three decades.

French Open

The French Open was slower to change, largely because the French Tennis Federation (FFT) was not under the same public pressure as Wimbledon or the US Open. King and the WTA used a combination of moral suasion and economic leverage: in 2005, the WTA threatened to withdraw sponsorship and player participation if the tournament did not commit to equal prize money. King personally met with FFT president Christian Bimes to explain how parity would enhance the tournament’s global reputation. In 2006, the French Open announced equal prize money for men’s and women’s singles—ending years of disparity.

Australian Open

The Australian Open was the last to implement equal prize money, doing so in 2001—long after King had retired from active play. But her voice remained powerful: she appeared in media campaigns and wrote op-eds arguing that the youngest of the four majors would never achieve true prestige without gender equality. Tennis Australia’s leadership eventually agreed, and the tournament became the third of four to reach parity. Since then, the Australian Open has positioned itself as the most progressive Slam, introducing gender-neutral scheduling and equal court access from the first round. King’s sustained advocacy kept the issue alive in Australia even when others had moved on.

Legacy: The Blueprint for Modern Women’s Tennis

Billie Jean King retired from full-time competitive tennis in the early 1980s, but her influence only grew. She founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which works to promote diversity and inclusion in business, politics, and sports. She served on the boards of the WTA, the Women’s Sports Foundation, and the Arthur Ashe Legacy Foundation. In 2009, President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States.

King’s legacy is embedded in every Grand Slam tournament today. Women play in prime time, their matches are broadcast as prominently as men’s, and they earn exactly the same prize money in all disciplines. The Billie Jean King Cup (formerly the Fed Cup), renamed in her honor in 2020, is the largest annual international team competition in women’s sport—a fitting tribute to the woman who transformed a sport. According to the Billie Jean King official website, she continues to advocate for equal opportunity across all fields.

Her courage extended beyond tennis: in 1981, she became one of the first major American athletes to come out as gay, facing significant personal and professional backlash. That act paved the way for greater LGBTQ+ acceptance in sport. Today, the Grand Slams hold Pride days, and the US Open unveiled a statue of King in 2024 to honor her contributions to equality. The numbers underline her impact: women’s singles prize money at the US Open went from $3,000 in 1970 to $3 million in 2023. The women’s final at the Australian Open drew a live audience of 1.2 million in the United States alone in 2024—more than double the viewership of the 1973 Battle of the Sexes per capita. King’s blueprint for modern women’s tennis remains the standard against which all reform is measured.

The Numbers Tell the Story

  • 1970: Women’s singles champion at Wimbledon earned £960; men’s champion earned £3,600.
  • 2007: Wimbledon women’s and men’s singles champions each received £700,000.
  • 2023: All four Grand Slams award equal prize money in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
  • Women now account for 45 % of total broadcast viewership for Grand Slam events, up from 18 % in 1970.
  • The WTA Tour’s total prize money has grown from approximately $310,000 in 1973 to over $180 million in 2023.

King’s impact on the development of Grand Slam tournaments is not a footnote in history—it is the central narrative of how women’s tennis became a global powerhouse. As she often says, “It’s not just about tennis. It’s about what tennis can do for the world.” Her fight for equality has inspired generations of athletes and activists, and the Grand Slams today stand as monuments to her vision. For those interested in learning more about her life and the ongoing fight for gender equity in sports, the USTA’s history of Billie Jean King provides extensive detail.