King is the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, the Women's Sports Foundation, and owner of World Team Tennis, which was founded by her former husband, Lawrence King, Dennis Murphy, Frank Barman, and Jordan Kaiser.
King learned to play tennis on the public courts of Long Beach, California. and was coached by Clyde Walker, a fine tennis teacher. She furthered her tennis career at the Los Angeles Tennis Club (LATC) under the jurisdiction of Perry T. Jones, President of the Southern California Tennis Association. At age 17, The Long Beach Tennis Patrons, through the efforts of Harold Guiver of USC, raised $2000 to send her to Wimbledon, where she won the Doubles with Karen Hantze.[18] She was an aggressive, hard-hitting net-rusher, with excellent speed. Chris Evert, however, said about King, "Her weakness is her impatience."
Concerning her motivations in life and tennis, King said,
Any time you're satisfied with mediocrity, any time you take away incentive from human beings, you've blown it. I'm a perfectionist much more than I'm a super competitor, and there's a big difference there.... I've been painted as a person who only competes. ... But most of all, I get off on hitting a shot correctly. ... Any woman who wants to achieve anything has to be aggressive and tough, but the press never sees us as multidimensional. They don't see the emotions, the downs....
King once said, "Victory is fleeting. Losing is forever."
In a May 19, 1975, Sports Illustrated article about King, Frank Deford noted that she had become something of a sex symbol and said, "Billie Jean cackles when the matter of her being a sex symbol is raised. 'Hysterical! Hysterical! Me, with these little short legs!' But she is practical enough to realize that a guy who buys a ticket to look at the girls has bought a ticket as sure as the guy who buys a ticket to look at the girls' forehands. ... Billie Jean herself not only thinks that sex is a dandy thing to have lurking around sports, but she also employs sex as sort of the ultimate gauge of equality between women's and men's athletics. This may be described as the Get-It Quotient.... 'There's a lot of ugly fellas among the male athletes, but just because they're athletes they get it all the time, don't they? Now, never mind prize money and publicity and all that. When we reach the point where all the women athletes are getting it, too, regardless of their looks, just like the fellas, then we've really arrived.'"
Grand Slam singles tournaments
King's triumph at the French Open in 1972 made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a "career Grand Slam." (Four additional women have completed a career Grand Slam since King.) King also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. In women's doubles, only the Australian Open eluded her.
King won a record 20 career titles at Wimbledon – 6 singles, 10 women's doubles, and 4 mixed doubles. (Martina Navratilova also has 20 career titles at Wimbledon.)
King played 51 Grand Slam singles events from 1959 through 1983 (197–39 .835 win–loss record): 21 at Wimbledon (96–15 win–loss record), 18 at the U.S. Championships/Open (63–14 win–loss record), 7 at the French Championships/Open (22–6 win–loss record), and 5 at the Australian Championships/Open (16–4 win–loss record). King reached at least the semifinals in 27 and at least the quarterfinals in 40 out of her 51 attempts.
King was the runner-up in 6 Grand Slam singles events.
An indicator of King's mental toughness at crunch time in Grand Slam singles tournaments was her 11–2 career record in deuce third sets, i.e., third sets that were tied 5–5 before being resolved.
Margaret Court, who won more Grand Slam titles than anyone, has said that King was "the greatest competitor I’ve ever known".
Chris Evert, winner of 18 Grand Slam singles titles, has said, "She's the wisest human being that I've ever met and has vision people can only dream about. Billie Jean King is my mentor and has given me advice about my tennis and my boyfriends. On dealing with my parents and even how to raise children. And she doesn't have any."
King was the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in 1967.
In 1972, King became the first tennis player to be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. She was also the first female athlete ever to receive that honor.
Friends with singer Elton John, the 1975 song "Philadelphia Freedom" is a tribute to King. On a PBS program, John talked about how he brought a demo copy of the record to play for her right after he had recorded it.
In 1975, Seventeen magazine found that King was the most admired woman in the world from a poll of its readers. Golda Meir, who had been Israel's prime minister until the previous year, finished second.
In 1979, several top players were asked who they would pick to help them recover from a hypothetical deficit of 1–5 (15–40) in the third set of a match on Wimbledon's Centre Court. Martina Navratilova, Rosemary Casals, and Françoise Durr all picked King. Navratilova said, "I would have to pick Billie Jean at her best. Consistently, Chris is hardest to beat but for one big occasion, one big match, one crucial point, yes, it would have to be Billie Jean." Casals said, "No matter how far down you got her, you never could be sure of beating her."
King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.
Life magazine in 1990 named her one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century."
King was the recipient of the 1999 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
In 2000, King received an award from the GLAAD, an organization devoted to reducing discrimination against gays, lesbians and bisexuals, for "furthering the visibility and inclusion of the community in her work." The award noted her involvement in production and the free distribution of educational films, as well as serving on the boards of several AIDS charities.
In 2006, the Women's Sports Foundation began to sponsor the Billie Awards, which are named after and hosted by King.
The USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center
On August 28, 2006, the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park was rededicated as the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. John McEnroe, Venus Williams, Jimmy Connors, and Chris Evert were among the speakers during the rededication ceremony.
On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife Maria Shriver inducted King into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts.
On October 18, 2007, the Public Justice Foundation presented King with its highest award, the Champion of Justice Award.
On November 20, 2007, King was presented with the 2007 Sunday Times Sports Women of the Year Lifetime Achievement award for her contribution to sport both on and off the court.
Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, was an admirer and close friend. Schulz referred to King several times in Peanuts over the years. In one strip, Peppermint Patty tells Marcie, "Has anyone ever told you that when you're mad, you look just like Billie Jean King?"
She was honored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President in March 2008 and was included in a map of historical sites related or dedicated to important women.
King was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
