Above and Beyond: Interviews and Portraits of Extraordinary People in Our Time, Billie Jean King, Tennis Legend, Social Activist
Published to Howard Schatz on June 18, 2019
Billie Jean King, who came to the studio recently, is a true sports legend. A former World No. 1 professional tennis player, she won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women’s doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles.
In 1973, at age 29, she won the intensely hyped “Battle of the Sexes” match against the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs. (Subject of a recent film.) As a determined advocate for women’s professional tennis, she was the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation. Regarded by many in the sport as one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time, King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987.