Billie Jean King: Trailblazer for Women’s Rights in Tennis
Raina Kapadia & Sophia Mann
Bam! One last shot and Bobby Riggs would fall to Billie Jean King, one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. Her journey of unwavering determination both on and off the tennis court would become an inspiration to young girls everywhere.
In 1943, King was born to incredibly athletic parents in Long Beach, California. She started her career as an athlete at the young age of 4, playing baseball, and transitioned to tennis when she was 11. As a child, her style of playing was often described as “aggressive”, and she was just as aggressive and ambitious with her plans for the future. When she was asked what she would do with her life, she responded, "I'm going to be the best tennis player in the world."
Billie Jean King began her career in professional tennis at 16, at her first Grand Slam in 1959. However, the first time she gained international recognition was two years later, in 1961, alongside Karen Hantze Susman. These two athletes became the youngest pair to ever win the Wimbledon women’s doubles title– and this was only the beginning for Billie Jean King. She went on to win a multitude of titles after that, starting with the women’s singles [medal or trophy?] at Wimbledon in 1966.
Once King started winning bigger championships, the pay gap between men and women in the world of professional tennis became a recurring theme. This became especially unavoidable when she won the 1972 U.S. Open and earned $15,000 less than the male champion. Thus, Billie Jean King’s career of activism began, and she made it her mission to level the playing field for professional female tennis players nationwide.
One of the first things she did was campaign for equal prize money by competing in the Virginia Slims Circuit, a professional Women’s tennis tour that specifically advocated for equal prize money and recognition. Her participation in this tour led to her forming the WTA, the first only Women’s Tennis Association. This organization prompted the U.S. Open to start awarding men and women the same winnings, the first step towards gender equality in tennis.
Still, King’s work wasn’t done. She continued to speak out against the unfair treatment of women in professional tennis and became the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Through her work at the WTA, she was able to strike a deal with CBS News, making it the first network to guarantee consistent broadcasting of women’s tournaments. This change was a huge step towards creating equal opportunities for male and female tennis players, and it brought more awareness to women’s tennis.
Although she had made significant progress for gender equality in tennis, King’s commitment to advancing female athletes’ rights continued throughout her life. She testified on behalf of Title IX to stop sex-based discrimination in federally funded sports, and she is currently a part of a multitude of organizations that support minorities in sports and speak out against gender discrimination in tennis. On top of that, she founded the Women’s Sports Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises awareness about sports-related issues and provides financial support to female athletes nationwide.
Billie Jean King not only advocated for gender equality and created long lasting change, but she simultaneously became one of the best female tennis players to have ever lived. After just 6 seasons, she was named the #1 tennis player in the world, and she holds the record for most Wimbledon titles ever won (20).
Despite all of this, Bobby Riggs, a retired top men’s player in the 1940s and 1950s, said he could beat King in a tennis match. He had challenged her multiple times before, and only in 1973 did King agree, putting $100,000 at stake. The match, dubbed “Battle of the Sexes,” was a huge spectacle, attracting over 50 million viewers on television. Even if King didn’t win, the fact that so many people were watching was already a huge step towards an equal audience for women’s tennis. After the match, King stated: "To beat a 55-year-old guy was no thrill for me. The thrill was exposing a lot of new people to tennis."
Bam! One last shot and the Battle of the Sexes would be won by none other than Billie Jean King, record-holding female tennis player and lifelong activist. By winning that match, King proved to the whole world that women were capable of beating men, and thus began a new era of progress for women’s sports. She inspired the next generation of female athletes, who now have a role model to look up to, showing them that anything is possible. Billie Jean King, a trailblazer for women’s rights in tennis, changed the game for female athletes everywhere.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Billie Jean King. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://www.billiejeanking.com/.
This source is super reliable on facts about her accomplishments, but most likely biased toward her.
Flink, Steve. "Original Nine Spotlight: Billie Jean King." U.S. Open. Accessed May 23, 2025. https://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/articles/2020-07-30/2020-07-30_original_nine_spotlight_billie_jean_king.html.
This source is super reliable because the facts are straight from my subject. This means that it most likely has some bias toward her, but is a valuable source illustrating her time with the Original Nine. It is also a primary source because it comes straight from her, since it is an interview.
Women's Sports Foundation. Accessed May 19, 2025. https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/.
This source is factually super reliable because she founded it. It is a primary source because Billie Jean King most likely fact-checks it. It is likely biased toward her because she is affiliated with it.
Secondary Sources
AP News. "Billie Jean King Joins First Women's Bank (in organization) in Effort to Close the Gender Gap in Access to Capital." September 12, 2024. Accessed May 21, 2025. https://apnews.com/press-release/pr-newswire/billie-jean-king-joins-first-womens-bank-in-organization-in-effort-to-close-the-gender-gap-in-access-to-capital-d643f11170d19b391bbcb9700dcf1b50.
This source is highly reliable according to Adfontes because it's rated 43/64 on the reliability scale. This source also leans very slightly left but is mostly central. It is marked a secondary source because it is a newspaper article written after the event.
Berry, David. "Five LGBTQ+ players who changed the face of tennis." Pluto Press. Accessed May 21, 2025. https://www.plutobooks.com/blog/five-lgbtq-players-who-changed-the-face-of-tennis/#:~:text=Toupie%20Lowther%20was%20not%20only,looked%20every%20inch%20the%20part.
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Elliott, Helene. "Billie Jean King on how Title IX went from near 'accident' to
life-changing force." Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, CA), June 23, 2022.
Accessed May 26, 2025. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2022-06-23/
billie-jean-king-reflects-title-ix-impact-women.
Morris. "Women's Sports History - A Heritage of Mixed Messages." National
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Bell, Richard C. "A History of Women in Sport Prior to Title IX." The Sport
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a-history-of-women-in-sport-prior-to-title-ix/.
Image Credit: Michael Cole/Courtesy of HBO