Billie Jean King is a former American tennis champion. She’s a 39-time major champion, with 12 singles, 16 women’s doubles, and 11 mixed doubles trophies under her belt. For the United States, Billie competed in seven Federation Cups.
At eleven, she purchased her first tennis racket and began playing tennis using money she had saved from performing odd jobs. In our experience, Bellie is among the very best tennis players ever. to top it all off, in 1987, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
She used to like ballet and classic film viewing in addition to tennis. She published a book in 1988 titled We Have Come A Long Way. Billie Jean King’s career, biography, and many possessions are discussed in this page.
Billie Jean King Net Worth
Billie Jean King is a former World No. 1 tennis player and an American who is estimated to be worth $22 million once she has retired. King won 12 singles championships, 11 mixed doubles wins, and 16 women’s doubles trophies at the Grand Slam tournaments, making her one of the finest tennis players of all time.
She was also the first woman to win the WTA Tour Championships singles competition. Throughout her career, Billie Jean competed for the United States in both the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup. The United States won nine Wightman Cups and seven Federation Cups with her as a part of the team.
King, then 29 years old, defeated Riggs, then 55, in a tennis match known as the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. King was a passionate champion for gender equality. Billie Jean King served as the United States Federation Cup captain for three years and as the founder of the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Women’s Tennis Association.
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King was awarded the Fed Cup Award of Excellence in 2010 and entered the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2009, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-President Barack Obama.
Billie Jean has written two books, “Pressure Is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes” (2008) and “All In: An Autobiography” (2021), and she has also served as an executive producer on the films “The Battle of the Sexes” (2013) and “Althea” (2014).
In addition to Emma Stone’s portrayal in 2017’s “Battle of the Sexes,” Billie Jean has starred as herself in the 1999 film “Arli$$,” the 2009 television series “Ugly Betty,” and the 2020 television series “The Bold Type.”
Career
King became professional in 1959 and continued to play tennis on the collegiate circuit. Billie Jean King and Karen Hantze Susman won the Wimbledon women’s doubles championship in 1961 at the ages of 16 and 17. For the first time in 1966, and again in 1967 and 1968, King triumphed in the Wimbledon singles championship.
As a singles player, she also won the Australian Open in 1968 and the U.S. Open in 1967. From 1961 to 1979, King held a record 20 Wimbledon titles, 13 United States titles (including four singles), four French titles (one singles), and two Australian titles (one singles), for a total of 39 Grand Slam titles, according to her website.
The following year, she beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes,” which was viewed by 90 million people from more than 35 nations and aired on more than 5,000 television stations worldwide. Billie Jean King’s ex-husband Larry helped create the women’s division of the tennis league World TeamTennis (WTT) in 1982.
Billie Jean played for the Philadelphia Freedoms of the World Team Tennis, and Elton John’s song “Philadelphia Freedom” served as the team’s anthem. After retiring from professional tennis in 1984, King became the Commissioner of WTT and one of the league’s owners.
She was the first woman to hold either position in sports history. Up until 2001, she was the Commission’s head. King and John created the “annual all-star charity tennis match” in 1992 called World TeamTennis Smash Hits to benefit the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
Billie Jean served as captain of the United States Fed Cup team and as coach of the United States women’s Olympic tennis team after her retirement. While she had been selected for the Presidential Delegation to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, in 2013, her mother’s illness and subsequent death on the day of the opening ceremonies prevented her from attending.
As the president of the International Tennis Federation, David Haggerty, explained, “All major team competitions, including Davis Cup, are named after men, and we think it’s really fitting that the women’s world cup of tennis would be named after someone as iconic as Billie Jean King, who changed the face of women’s sports.” The name change will take effect in 2020.
FAQs about Billie Jean King
1. What is Billie Jean King’s net worth?
A- Billie Jean King has an estimated net worth of around $22 Million.
2. How old is she?
A- Billie Jean King was born on 22 November 1943, making her 79 years old.
3. What is her annual income?
She has an estimated annual salary of $2 Million.
4. How tall is Billie Jean King?
A- She stands at 1.64m or 5’5”.
5. Who has she been married to?
A- Billie Jean King was married to Larry King from 1965 to 1987 and later to Ilana Kloss in 2018.
