To Billie Jean King, it doesn’t really feel like it’s been 50 years since she spearheaded the charge for equal prize money for women’s tennis players and, in turn, changed the landscape of the sport forever.
That is, until she takes the court at the age of 79.
Approximately 4 million people picked up tennis during the coronavirus pandemic, and one of the most decorated players of all time returned to it.
“I’m one of those 4 million,” King, dressed in a deep purple blazer, squealed from the head of the table of a board room attached to Arthur Ashe Stadium, which is on the U.S. Open grounds that carry her name.
“I’m really crazier than ever because I can feel the ball against the strings,” she continued. “It’s like, ‘Yeah!’ I took about a 20-year break. Ilana [Kloss, her wife,] got me playing again during COVID. She said, ‘You know, we have a little bit more time for a change; why don’t you start hitting again? You love to hit the ball so much. You love tennis so much.’ I’ve got horrible knees, and I’ve had a shoulder [issue]. I’m a mess. But to get out there and hit is great.”
The enthusiasm and passion with which she played over her 22-year career have not faded in the slightest. It’s just been redirected into the broader work she’s always been a part of for gender equality and advancing women’s sports.
King will tell you she’s always looking toward the future, even if the past is important to learn from.
And the 39-time Grand Slam winner (12 singles, 16 doubles, 11 mixed doubles) sees the rest of women’s sports catching up to tennis.
“I think we’re at the tipping point for women’s sports,” King said. “For the first time in my life, I feel I can breathe a little bit. The thing I worry about is, don’t blow it. It’s like when you get in a match. You got an opportunity: finish.”
King cited the U.S. women’s national soccer team, which made significant progress when they came to a historic and first-of-its-kind deal last year in which they and the men’s national team agreed to pool their FIFA prize money together and split it equally.
The next step, according to King, will be to secure more investments — enthusiastic investments, she specified — in women’s sports.
King pointed out that more and more investors have been coming in as the world realizes there’s profit in the women’s game, but now it’s about getting the masses to truly believe in the product.
If King could bolster women’s sports in its entirety all by herself, she would. In fact, she’s well on her way.
BJK Enterprises is part owner in Angel City FC, a National Women’s Soccer League team, as well as part owner of Major League Baseball’s Dodgers. King believes it’s very important that women be involved in ownership across the sports world. BJK Enterprises also is involved with the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
The U.S. women’s national hockey team’s Kendall Coyne Schofield also approached King for help to start a women’s ice hockey league.
“Sports is a microcosm of society, so it reflects what’s going on in the workplace, at-home life, economics, everything,” King said. “We have an amazing opportunity to lead and let people think about things and maybe they’ll change. Each person should define themselves and not let others define them.
“I think sports give women in particular a chance to truly define themselves in a big way. Sports is a platform, we can help make the world a better place.”
As the qualifying rounds of the U.S. Open trudge on, King couldn’t help but glow when she spoke about some of the top players in the tournament, such as Americans Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula.
King said she loves being around the younger generation of players and watching them go through their own journeys.
Even when she was in the thick of the fight for equal prize money, in which she succeeded by securing sponsorships all by herself, King said she always envisioned that women’s tennis would become what it is now.
“I remember when we first started the Virginia Slims tournament, media would come to us and go, ‘All right, Billie, you can’t imagine growing that much, can you?’ ” she recalled. “I said, ‘Oh, no, no, no, we’re going to grow a lot. We’re going to be global. We’re going to make millions and millions of dollars,’ And they’re going, ‘Really?’
“I said, ‘Yeah, that’s why we started this. This is just the beginning, and every day it’s a new beginning, really.’ ”
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