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Billie Jean King 1943-Present 2015

By kennedyk2

  • Birth Date

    Billie Jean King was born in Long Beach, California 1943 to Willard J. Moffitt and Betty Moffitt.

  • Tennis Debut

  • Attended Los Angeles State College

  • Wins her first Wimbledon title

    Wins her first Wimbledon title, in doubles with Karen Hautze.

  • Graduated Los Angeles State College

  • Wins her first Wimbledon singles title.

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • U.S. Open singles champion

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • Australian Open singles champion

  • U.S. Open singles champion

  • first female athlete to win $100,000 in a single year

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • U.S. Open singles champion

  • French Open singles champion

  • Wins the U.S. Open and threatens to bow out the next year if the women's prize money didn't match the men's

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • U.S. Open becomes the first major tournament to award equal prize money to men and women

  • President, Women's Tennis Association

  • Founds the Women's Tennis Association (WTA)

  • Battle of the Sexes

    At 29, plays in the "Battle of the Sexes" match in the Houston Astrodome, against 55 year-old former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs. King wins the match in straight sets and the $100,000 winner-takes-all price.

  • U.S. Open singles champion

  • Helped found World Team Tennis

    founding partner, along with her husband Larry, of World Team Tennis, a co-ed league. The format of the competition sees men and women playing a five-set competition in a mix of singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

  • Helps create the Women's Sports Foundation.

  • Wimbledon singles champion

  • Plays her final grand slam singles match at Wimbledon

  • President for the 2nd time, Women's Tennis Association

  • Acknowledges that she is a lesbian

    Acknowledges that she is a lesbian after Marilyn Barnett files a palimony lawsuit against her

  • USTA Billie Jean king National Tennis Center

    The United States Tennis Association (USTA) National Tennis Center in New York City, New York, is rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean king National Tennis Center.

  • Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom

  • Named to the American delegation at the 2014 Winter Olympics

    Is named to the American delegation at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia by President Barack Obama.

  • Named as part of the presidential delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics

    King is named as part of the presidential delegation to the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She had initially been a member of the opening ceremony delegation, but had to pull out because her mother was ill.