# Billie Jean King
**Billie Jean King** (née Moffitt; born 1943 in [Long Beach, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-beach-california)) is an American tennis champion and equality activist who won 39 Grand Slam titles, founded the [Women's Tennis Association](https://www.edgepedia.org/womens-tennis-association), and defeated [Bobby Riggs](https://www.edgepedia.org/bobby-riggs) in the 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" match.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) • [2](https://www.billiejeanking.com/tennis/grand-slam-titles/) Her career total of 39 major titles across singles, doubles, and mixed doubles ranks third on the all-time list, behind Margaret Court and Martina Navratilova.[3](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4496793/legend-bio-billie-jean-king)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1943, Long Beach, California[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) |
| Grand Slam titles | 39 total: 12 singles, 16 women's doubles, 11 mixed doubles[2](https://www.billiejeanking.com/tennis/grand-slam-titles/) |
| Wimbledon | Record 20 championships, shared with Martina Navratilova[4](https://www.billiejeanking.com/) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) |
| World ranking | No. 1 in 1966–68, 1971, 1972, and 1974[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) |
| Battle of the Sexes | Beat Bobby Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on September 20, 1973, at the Houston Astrodome[6](https://apnews.com/article/11ec5ef97fbc620fa18c24196b8ada0d) |
| Organizing legacy | Original 9 signatory (1970); founded the WTA in 1973 and the Women's Sports Foundation in 1974[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) • [7](https://apnews.com/article/eb2ffe9bcaf0834cbb424f4d02423646) |
| Top honors | Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009); Congressional Gold Medal (2024)[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) |
## Playing career
King grew up on the public tennis courts of Long Beach and attended [Long Beach Polytechnic High School](https://www.edgepedia.org/long-beach-polytechnic-high-school) and [California State University, Los Angeles](https://www.edgepedia.org/california-state-university-los-angeles), before leaving after three years to pursue professional tennis.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [8](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/05/21/billie-jean-king-graduated-college-age-82-super-ager-move/) She played her first major at the U.S. Nationals in 1959 and won her first tournament on August 7, 1960, defeating Carole Graebner in Philadelphia.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king)
Her breakthrough came at Wimbledon in 1961, where at 17 she and Karen Hantze won the Ladies Doubles Championship, the first of her 20 career titles at the tournament: six in singles, ten in doubles, and four in mixed doubles.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) Her first major singles title came at Wimbledon in 1966, when she beat Maria Bueno 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) She held the world No. 1 ranking in 1966–68, 1971, 1972, and 1974, six of the ten years from 1966 through 1975.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [4](https://www.billiejeanking.com/)
Her 1971 season was her strongest: she won 17 of 31 tournaments with a 112-13 record, and on September 27, 1971, became the first women's player in history to earn $100,000 in prize money in a calendar year, finishing the season at $117,000.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) Her 1972 [French Open](https://www.edgepedia.org/french-open) singles victory over Evonne Goolagong completed a Career Grand Slam in singles, one of only five women to have achieved the feat at that time.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) She retired from competitive tennis in 1983 after winning her final tournament, the Edgbaston Cup in Birmingham, at age 39, with 129 career singles titles and a career singles record of 695-155.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) • [9](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4505590/six-decades-later-82-year-old-billie-jean-king-is-finally-a-college-graduate) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king)
## The Battle of the Sexes
On September 20, 1973, King, then 29, faced the 55-year-old retired champion Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" at the Houston Astrodome, a $100,000 winner-take-all match that Riggs had promoted with claims that even a retired male player could beat the top women.[6](https://apnews.com/article/11ec5ef97fbc620fa18c24196b8ada0d) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) King won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, before 30,492 spectators, a record crowd for a tennis match, and a reported television audience of 50 million; the WTA's own history gives a global audience of 90 million.[6](https://apnews.com/article/11ec5ef97fbc620fa18c24196b8ada0d) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [10](https://www.wtatennis.com/wta-history) The match became a landmark moment for women's equality in sports, and King later said the contest was about social change rather than a single result.[11](https://www.washingtonpost.com/ripple/2025/12/18/tennis-is-set-for-a-battle-of-the-sexes-sequel-with-no-movement-behind-it/)
## Organizing women's tennis
In 1970 King was one of nine players, the Original 9, who broke with the tennis establishment by signing $1 contracts with promoter Gladys Heldman, the publisher of World Tennis magazine, in protest of the vast differences in prize money between male and female players.[10](https://www.wtatennis.com/wta-history) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) The move led to the Virginia Slims Circuit, which later became the Women's Tennis Association; King founded the WTA in 1973 and served as its first president.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) • [1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/)
Her lobbying also changed prize money directly. After winning the 1972 US Open and receiving $15,000 less than men's champion [Ilie Năstase](https://www.edgepedia.org/ilie-nastase), she threatened to boycott if pay was not equalized; in 1973 the US Open became the first of the four majors to award men and women equal prize money.[5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) By 2007, all four [Grand Slam](https://www.edgepedia.org/grand-slam-tennis) tournaments paid equal prize money.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/)
## Advocacy and later work
King founded the Women's Sports Foundation in 1974, using a $5,000 check from a best-female-athlete award as seed money; the foundation has since invested more than $100 million in opportunities and equity for girls and women in sports.[7](https://apnews.com/article/eb2ffe9bcaf0834cbb424f4d02423646) The same year she co-founded World TeamTennis, becoming the first woman to coach a co-ed team in professional sports, and in 1981 she became the first woman to run a professional league as World TeamTennis commissioner.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/)
In 1981 she was publicly outed as gay, losing her endorsement deals and at least $500,000 in marketing income, and she went on to become one of the first female athletes to champion LGBT rights.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) • [5](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king) She married [Larry King](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-king) in 1965 and divorced him in 1987; she married [Ilana Kloss](https://www.edgepedia.org/ilana-kloss) on October 19, 2018, and with Kloss has joined the ownership groups of the [Los Angeles Dodgers](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-dodgers), the Los Angeles Sparks, and Angel City FC.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/)
## Recognition
King was elected to the [International Tennis Hall of Fame](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-tennis-hall-of-fame) in 1987 and became a two-time inductee when the Original 9 were enshrined as a group in 2021.[12](https://www.billiejeanking.com/biography/) • [9](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4505590/six-decades-later-82-year-old-billie-jean-king-is-finally-a-college-graduate) In 2006 the USTA National Tennis Center, home of the US Open, was renamed the [USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center](https://www.edgepedia.org/usta-billie-jean-king-national-tennis-center), making her the first woman to have a major sports venue named in her honor.[13](https://www.billiejeanking.com/biography/firsts-and-facts/) In 2020 the Fed Cup was renamed the [Billie Jean King Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/billie-jean-king-cup), the first major sporting event named after a woman.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009, the first female athlete so honored, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2024, the first individual female athlete to receive it.[1](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/) When the Hollywood Walk of Fame introduced its sports entertainment category, she made history in 2025 as the first woman awarded a star in it.[14](https://apnews.com/article/912f34fefb48c025c70aacb24f7d20a6) In May 2026, at age 82, she completed the Bachelor of Arts in history she had begun at Cal State LA 65 years earlier.[15](https://apnews.com/article/f45e32d3f48820924e85d64d2a64412e)
## References
1. [Billie Jean King timeline: Through the Years, Sports Business Journal](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Articles/2025/01/27/billie-jean-king-timeline/)
2. [Grand Slam Tennis Champions, BillieJeanKing.com](https://www.billiejeanking.com/tennis/grand-slam-titles/)
3. [Legend Bio: Billie Jean King, WTA Tennis](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4496793/legend-bio-billie-jean-king)
4. [The Official Website of Billie Jean King](https://www.billiejeanking.com/)
5. [Billie Jean King, International Tennis Hall of Fame](https://www.tennisfame.com/hall-of-famers/inductees/billie-jean-king)
6. [Today in History: September 20, Billie Jean King wins 'Battle of the Sexes', AP News](https://apnews.com/article/11ec5ef97fbc620fa18c24196b8ada0d)
7. [A $5,000 check won by Billie Jean King 50 years ago helped create Women's Sports Foundation, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/eb2ffe9bcaf0834cbb424f4d02423646)
8. [Billie Jean King just graduated from college at 82, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2026/05/21/billie-jean-king-graduated-college-age-82-super-ager-move/)
9. [The history-maker becomes a history graduate, WTA Tennis](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4505590/six-decades-later-82-year-old-billie-jean-king-is-finally-a-college-graduate)
10. [WTA History, WTA Official](https://www.wtatennis.com/wta-history)
11. [A 'Battle of the Sexes' sequel?, The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/ripple/2025/12/18/tennis-is-set-for-a-battle-of-the-sexes-sequel-with-no-movement-behind-it/)
12. [Billie Jean King Accomplishments, BillieJeanKing.com](https://www.billiejeanking.com/biography/)
13. [Facts About Billie Jean King, BillieJeanKing.com](https://www.billiejeanking.com/biography/firsts-and-facts/)
14. [Billie Jean King immortalized in bronze with star on Hollywood Walk of Fame, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/912f34fefb48c025c70aacb24f7d20a6)
15. [Billie Jean King, 82, earns a college degree 65 years after starting at Cal State LA, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/f45e32d3f48820924e85d64d2a64412e)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Racket and precision ball sports › Tennis › Tennis players and seasons › Individual tennis player biographies › North American tennis player biographies*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license