Early Life and Tennis Beginnings

Billie Jean King was born Billie Jean Moffitt on November 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California, into a middle-class family that valued sports and hard work. Her father, a firefighter, and her mother, a homemaker, encouraged their children to stay active. King’s first exposure to tennis came at age 11 when her father asked if she wanted to try the sport. She took her first swings on the public courts of Long Beach and was immediately drawn to the game. Despite a natural talent for softball—she played first base on a youth team—King chose tennis because it offered a lifelong challenge she found irresistible. She spent countless hours hitting a ball against the garage door at home, refining her stroke and developing the relentless pursuit of improvement that would define her career.

By her mid-teens, King had entered the junior tournament circuit. In 1958, she won the Southern California Junior Championships, a victory that earned her a spot in the national junior rankings. She attended California State University, Los Angeles, on a tennis scholarship, but the tug of professional play proved too strong. King left college less than a year in to pursue tennis full-time. In 1961, at age 17, she traveled to Wimbledon as a spectator, soaking in the grass courts and the tradition. A year later, she returned as a competitor, debuting in both singles and doubles and reaching the third round—an impressive start for a teenager. Her true breakthrough came in 1966 when she won her first Wimbledon singles title, defeating Maria Bueno in straight sets. That victory launched a career that would include 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. But even as her trophy case filled, King grew increasingly aware of the unequal world she was playing in.

The Sexism She Faced on and Off the Court

King’s rise coincided with a tennis establishment that treated women’s tennis as a secondary product. Prize money for women’s events often amounted to one-eighth of what the men earned, and tournament organizers regularly scheduled women’s matches on side courts while men headlined center court. Media coverage was sparse, and when it appeared, it often focused more on players’ appearances than their athletic achievements. In 1970, King won the Italian Open and collected $600. The men’s champion, Ilie Năstase, took home $3,500. That same year, she claimed the Pacific Southwest Championships only to discover that the women’s prize pool was $3,000 less than the men’s. When she confronted tournament director Jack Kramer, he told her bluntly that women were not as popular and did not deserve equal pay.

King later described that moment as the point of no return. “I knew I had to do something,” she wrote in her autobiography All In, “not just for myself, but for every girl who would come after me.” The sting of Kramer’s dismissal hardened her resolve. She reached out to other top female players and, together with eight allies known as the Original 9—including Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, and Gladys Heldman—she signed a $1 contract with Philip Morris to launch a separate women’s tour financed by Virginia Slims cigarettes. The move was a gamble. The United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) threatened to suspend them, and established tournament sponsors refused to back the upstart circuit. But King and her peers held firm. By 1971, the Virginia Slims Circuit was a reality, offering substantially better prize money and showing that women’s tennis could be a viable business on its own terms. The circuit grew rapidly, and by 1973 it had laid the groundwork for a unified women’s professional tour.

The 1973 Battle of the Sexes

The most visible flashpoint in King’s campaign against sexism came on September 20, 1973, at the Houston Astrodome, where she faced Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes.” Riggs, a 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion and self-proclaimed male chauvinist, had been loudly challenging top female players to prove that even an aging man could beat the best woman. He had already defeated Margaret Court in May 1973, a match that sent shockwaves through the sports world and emboldened him further. King initially declined his challenge, but when Riggs kept taunting women’s tennis in media interviews, she accepted. She saw it as a fight not just for herself but for the respect of all women athletes.

The match became a cultural spectacle. Riggs entered the Astrodome in a rickshaw pulled by models, while King was carried in on a sedan chair by bare-chested men like a pharaoh. An estimated 90 million people watched worldwide—at the time the largest television audience for any tennis match. King played with controlled aggression, countering Riggs’s drop shots and lobs with precise groundstrokes and determined net play. She won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. The victory was a gut punch to the notion that women’s sports were inferior. It also had immediate financial impact: the winner’s purse of $100,000 was a record for women’s tennis, and the event proved that women’s matches could attract mass audiences and sponsorship dollars. King often says the match’s true legacy was not the money but the shift in perception. “It was about social change,” she reflected later. “That one night changed how people saw women in sports.”

Founding the Women’s Tennis Association

While the Battle of the Sexes dominated headlines, King’s most enduring contributions were structural. In June 1973, just months before the Riggs match, she and other players founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) during a meeting at the Gloucester Hotel in London. The WTA was designed as a governing body that unified the women’s tour, negotiating sponsorship deals, broadcasting rights, and prize money standards. King served as the WTA’s first president and helped establish a single tour calendar that gave players consistent opportunities to compete and earn. She also pushed for the US Open to become the first Grand Slam to offer equal prize money to men and women—a landmark achieved in 1973, when the purse for the women’s champion matched that of the men’s champion for the first time.

King’s vision for the WTA extended beyond immediate financial gains. She understood that a strong, independent women’s tour would inspire girls and women in all fields by showing them that athletic excellence could be a viable career. The WTA now represents more than 2,500 players from over 90 countries, and its tournaments are broadcast globally. The tour’s success has forced other sports to follow: the WNBA, women’s soccer, and women’s track and field have all benefited from the foundation King and her peers built. She also played a key role in getting women’s tennis included in the Olympic Games, which it was in 1988. The WTA’s creation remains one of the most important organizational achievements in sports history.

Equal Pay and Ongoing Advocacy

Despite the WTA’s founding and the US Open’s precedent, equal prize money at other Grand Slams took decades to achieve. The French Open did not offer equal pay until 2006, and Wimbledon held out until 2007. King continued to pressure tournament organizers, using her platform and the credibility she had built. She testified before the All England Club and lobbied individual officials. In 2007, when Wimbledon finally capitulated, King called it “a victory for every woman who ever picked up a racket.” She also co-founded the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974, a non-profit that funds athletic opportunities for girls and women at the grassroots level. The foundation’s programs—including grants for under-resourced schools and advocacy for equal facilities—have helped secure billions of dollars in funding for women’s sports.

King’s activism extended beyond sports. She became a vocal supporter of Title IX, the 1972 U.S. law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in federally funded education programs. In 1975, she testified before Congress, arguing that Title IX was essential for leveling the playing field in school sports. Her testimony helped shape the implementation of the law, which has since expanded opportunities for millions of girls in high school and college athletics. King often notes that Title IX’s impact goes far beyond the playing field: it has increased college attendance rates among women and helped close the pay gap in professional careers.

The Battle Continues: Modern Sexism in Tennis

King’s work is far from finished. Sexism in tennis persists in more subtle forms. In 2021, former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka spoke out about the unequal treatment she received in media coverage and endorsement opportunities compared to her male peers. The disparity in on-court coaching rules—allowed in women’s matches for years but barred in men’s—has also drawn criticism as an outdated double standard. King has publicly supported Osaka and other players who challenge the status quo, emphasizing that the fight for equality is ongoing. In 2023, the WTA announced a new sponsorship deal that increased prize money for the year-end WTA Finals by 65%, bringing it closer to parity with the men’s ATP Finals. King called the announcement “a long-overdue step in the right direction.” She continues to meet with tour leaders and players, offering advice on negotiating contracts, speaking about equity, and maintaining mental health under the spotlight.

LGBTQ+ Advocacy and Personal Life

King came out as gay in 1981, when a former partner filed a palimony lawsuit that made her sexuality a public story. At the time, few high-profile athletes were openly LGBTQ+, and the revelation cost King endorsement deals and subjected her to intense public scrutiny. She later described the experience as painful but freeing. “I didn’t choose to be gay, but I did choose to live my truth,” she said in a 2018 interview. King became an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, speaking out against discrimination in sports and society. In 1998, she was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame, and she has served as a Grand Marshal for the Los Angeles Pride parade numerous times. Her visibility helped create a safer environment for other athletes. Tennis players Martina Navratilova, Amélie Mauresmo, and more recently, Alison Van Uytvanck have all credited King with paving the way.

In 2018, King married Ilana Kloss, a former professional tennis player and the couple have been together since 1980. Kloss served as CEO of the WTT and co-founded the BJKLI. King has called the LGBTQ+ movement “the civil rights issue of our time” and continues to speak at global forums, including the United Nations. She uses her platform to advocate for inclusive policies in sports, such as transgender athletes’ right to compete in accordance with their gender identity. King’s stance is rooted in her belief that everyone deserves the chance to play, regardless of who they are or whom they love.

The Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative

In 2014, King launched the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative (BJKLI), a non-profit focused on diversity, inclusion, and leadership development. The initiative works with companies and organizations to create inclusive workplaces, especially for women and people of color. Key programs include mentorship for young women, workshops on equity in sports leadership, and research on the business case for diversity. The BJKLI has partnered with major brands such as Nike, Mattel, and Intel, and its principles have been adopted by the Women’s Sports Foundation and the WTA. King’s vision for the initiative is rooted in her belief that “you have to see it to be it.” By amplifying stories of diverse leaders, the BJKLI aims to inspire a new generation of changemakers.

In 2023, the initiative launched a fellowship program that places young women in leadership roles within sports organizations—covering everything from operations to marketing to athlete relations. King personally mentors each fellow, stressing that the fight for equality requires sustained effort from both men and women. She frequently reminds them that progress is not inevitable; it is the result of deliberate action. The BJKLI also publishes an annual report on gender diversity in sports executive roles, holding organizations accountable for their hiring and promotion practices. King’s approach is pragmatic: she wants measurable outcomes, not just statements of intent.

Legacy and Cultural Impact

Billie Jean King’s legacy is woven into the fabric of tennis and beyond. In 1987, the US Open named its main stadium the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center—the first major sports venue named after a woman. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2020. In 2023, the USTA erected a statue of King at the US Open grounds, alongside Arthur Ashe, symbolizing her fight for equality. The statue shows King in a dynamic serving pose, a fitting tribute to a player who used every weapon at her disposal to change the game. Her influence extends to popular culture: the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes, starring Emma Stone as King, introduced her story to a new generation. King consulted on the film and praised its accuracy, saying it “showed the human side of the fight.”

In tennis, King’s impact is visible every day. The WTA now offers equal prize money at all four Grand Slams, and women’s tennis is a profitable, globally televised sport. Her activism also inspired other sports: the WNBA, women’s soccer, and women’s track and field have all cited her as a role model. In 2020, the U.S. women’s national soccer team won a landmark equal pay lawsuit, a victory King called “a direct result of the groundwork laid in the 1970s.” King’s mantra—“Pressure is a privilege”—has become a rallying cry for athletes facing adversity. She continues to speak, teach, and lead, proving that one person’s courage can shift the trajectory of an entire industry.

Conclusion

Billie Jean King’s fight against sexism in tennis was never about a single match or a single tournament. It was about recalibrating an entire system—from prize money to media representation to legal protections. She used her talent, celebrity, and unwavering determination to force the sports world to confront its biases. Her victories on the court were spectacular, but her victories off the court were even more transformative. She showed that a female athlete could be both fierce and dignified, both competitive and compassionate. In doing so, she changed tennis forever and opened doors for millions of women and girls around the world. Her work reminds us that equality is not a destination but an ongoing effort—and that every generation must take up the fight.

To learn more about Billie Jean King’s ongoing work, visit the Billie Jean King official website. Explore the history of the WTA at WTA History. Read about the Battle of the Sexes in the Tennis.com archive and the impact of Title IX through the Women’s Sports Foundation. For more on King’s leadership initiative, see BJKLI.