50 Fun Facts About Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King was born in which California city?

Her firefighter father and swimmer mother raised an athletic family; one of the city's tennis facilities is now named the Billie Jean Moffitt King Tennis Center.

How many Grand Slam titles did King win across singles, doubles and mixed?

The haul breaks down as 12 singles, 16 women's doubles and 11 mixed doubles titles.

King beat which former Wimbledon champion in the 1973 'Battle of the Sexes'?

Riggs, the 1939 Wimbledon champion, had styled himself a tennis hustler and had just crushed Margaret Court 6–2, 6–1.

Where was the Battle of the Sexes match played?

A crowd of 30,492 watched in person, with an estimated 90 million more on television in 37 countries.

How old was Riggs when King beat him in straight sets?

King was 29; she later said the thrill was not beating an older man but exposing new people to tennis.

How much was the winner-takes-all purse for the Riggs match?

That is roughly $707,000 in 2024 money; King had turned down Riggs until he humiliated Margaret Court.

King's younger brother Randy Moffitt spent 12 years as a professional in which sport?

He pitched for the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros and Toronto Blue Jays.

At age 11 King switched to tennis from which sport, at her parents' urging?

She had played shortstop at 10 on a championship team with girls four or five years older; her parents wanted something more 'ladylike'.

How much did King save to buy her first racket?

She took free public-court lessons from city pro Clyde Walker, and was once barred from a tournament photo for wearing shorts her mother sewed.

How many Wimbledon singles titles did King win?

Her record 20 titles there also include 10 women's doubles and four mixed doubles crowns.

With whom did a 17-year-old King win the 1961 Wimbledon doubles title on her first attempt?

Locals raised $2,000 to send her to Wimbledon; she and Hantze were the youngest team ever to win the event and repeated in 1962.

Whose longstanding record of 19 Wimbledon titles did King break in 1979?

Ryan had collapsed and died at Wimbledon just one day before King passed her mark.

Who partnered King to her 20th Wimbledon title and her 39th and last Grand Slam title in 1980?

Navratilova then dropped her for Shriver without discussing it; King confronted her: 'Tell me I'm too old ... but tell me something.'

Which title in 1972 completed King's career Grand Slam in singles?

She won it without dropping a set, beating Evonne Goolagong in the final, and became only the fifth woman to hold all four majors.

Which 18-time major champion coached King early on but dropped her over her ambition?

Marble ended the relationship; in 1967 King matched Marble's 1939 feat of the singles, doubles and mixed treble at Wimbledon and the US Championships.

Whom did King beat in the 1966 Wimbledon final for her first Grand Slam singles title?

It came at her 14th attempt at a major singles title; she credited a new forehand down the line for her semi-final win over Court.

King won the 1975 Wimbledon final 6–0, 6–1 over which opponent?

Calling it a 'near perfect match', she told reporters 'I'm never coming back' and briefly retired from singles.

In which year did King become the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a season?

It was her best year for titles (17) and it earned her a congratulatory phone call from the White House.

Which US president phoned to congratulate King on her $100,000 season?

The milestone came despite women's purses that were often a tenth of the men's at the same events.

Which tournament became the first major to pay men and women equally, in 1973?

King had been paid $15,000 less than the men's champion there in 1972 and threatened not to return.

Which men's champion earned $15,000 more than King at the 1972 US Open?

King said she would boycott the next year unless the money was equal, and the tournament changed its policy.

Which cigarette brand sponsored the breakaway women's tour King helped launch?

Philip Morris chairman Joe Cullman backed it; King later sat on the Philip Morris board, drawing anti-tobacco criticism.

Which World Tennis magazine founder bankrolled the original nine-player women's group in 1970?

The walkout followed the Pacific Southwest Open, where the men's top prize was $12,500 and the women's $1,500.

In 1973 King became the first president of which organisation?

She founded the players' union the same year she beat Riggs; the Women's Sports Foundation followed in 1974.

What magazine did King launch with her husband and Jim Jorgensen in 1974?

The same year she started the Women's Sports Foundation, and the World TeamTennis league began play.

King's husband Larry co-founded which league that began play in 1974?

The couple sank their savings into an Oakland Coliseum event; King became commissioner in 1982 and sold her majority stake in 2017.

Which Elton John US number one was written for King?

Released on New Year's Day 1975, it nodded to her World TeamTennis side, the Philadelphia Freedoms.

Which comic-strip creator was a close friend who referenced King in his strip?

Schulz used Peanuts to support the women's sports movement after befriending her.

Who played King in the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes?

King attended the 2018 Golden Globes as Stone's guest.

Under which costume did King compete on The Masked Singer in 2023?

She was unmasked in an Elton John tribute episode after singing 'Philadelphia Freedom'.

In which year was the Fed Cup renamed the Billie Jean King Cup?

She played on seven winning US Fed Cup teams and captained the 1996 champions.

Which president gave King the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009?

She was the first female athlete to receive it, honoured for her work on women's and LGBT rights.

Who designed the dress King wore against Riggs, now in a Smithsonian collection?

Tinling was the sport's go-to couturier for decades, dressing stars from Gussie Moran to Chris Evert.

The USTA centre renamed for King in 2006 sits in which New York park?

McEnroe, Venus Williams, Connors and Evert spoke at the rededication ceremony.

In 2024 King became the first individual female athlete to receive which honour?

The citation praised her leadership in advancing equal rights for women in athletics, education and society.

Whom did King marry in a secret 2018 ceremony?

Kloss was her former doubles partner; the two have homes in New York City and Chicago.

King and Kloss became minority owners of which MLB team in 2018?

The stake has brought her three World Series rings, in 2020, 2024 and 2025.

King joined the ownership group of which NWSL club in 2020?

The Los Angeles side began play in 2022; she also co-owns the WNBA's Sparks.

The women's hockey league King helped create opened in January 2024 with a game in which city?

The Mark Walter Group and BJK Enterprises bought the Premier Hockey Federation in 2023 to unify the sport into one league.

In 1983 King became the oldest WTA singles champion at a grass event in which English city?

She was 39 years, 7 months and 23 days old when she beat Alycia Moulton in the Edgbaston Cup final.

King's last official singles match, in 1983, was a second-round loss at which major?

She fell to Catherine Tanvier, then played doubles sporadically until a final match alongside Jennifer Capriati in 1990.

Who was King's partner in her final competitive doubles match, in 1990?

Twelve years later, as Fed Cup captain, King dismissed Capriati from the team for bringing a personal coach.

Who filed the 1981 palimony suit that forced King to acknowledge a same-sex relationship?

Her former secretary sued for half the Kings' income and their Malibu house; the suit was thrown out in 1982 and King lost an estimated $2 million in endorsements.

The minister at King's childhood church was a two-time Olympic champion in which event?

Bob Richards asked the teenager what she would do with her life; she replied she would be the best tennis player in the world.

King shared the 1972 Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award with which coach?

She was the first woman ever to receive the magazine's award.

Which broadcaster presented King with the 2018 BBC Sports Personality Lifetime Achievement Award?

King was only the second American, after Michael Phelps, to win the award.

Chris Evert named which trait as King's weakness?

King was an aggressive, hard-hitting net-rusher; Court nonetheless called her 'the greatest competitor I've ever known'.

In 1962 King beat which top seed at Wimbledon, the first women's No. 1 to lose her opening match?

The 18-year-old attacked Court's forehand in the second round; Court got revenge in the 1963 final.

Who beat King in the 1969 Wimbledon final, stopping her run at three straight titles?

King had lost only 13 points in her 6–1, 6–0 semi-final over Rosemary Casals before the upset.

Obama named King to the US delegation for which Winter Olympics?

The pick was read as a signal on gay rights, but she withdrew when her mother fell ill; Betty Moffitt died on the day of the opening ceremony.