Billie Jean King

Billie Jean was married to Larry King between 1965 and 1987. She was attracted to Marilyn Barnett, her secretary, and shared a lesbian relationship with her. Marilyn sued her for palimony after the matter became public.

She dropped out of the delegation for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, to be near her ailing mother. Her mother passed away on February 7, the date of its opening ceremony.

Billie Jean was born Billie Jean Moffit to Bill Moffit, a fireman, and Betty, a homemaker. Her younger brother, Randy, became a baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants.

She went to the Long Beach Polytechnic High School and then to the California State University, Los Angeles. The free Public Courts in Long Beach helped her practice and hone her tennis skills.

In 1959, King made her first Grand Slam appearance at the U.S. Championships. Her first round opponent, Justina Bricka retrieved the match after having a match point against her in the second set.

In 1960, she won the Philadelphia and District Women's Grass Court Championships - her first senior title. She defeated Karen Hantze Susman, who had reached the U.S Championship Quarter finals the previous year.

In 1961, the Long Beach Tennis Patrons, Century Club, and Harold Guiver raised $2,000 to pay for her trip to Wimbledon. She did not disappoint and partnering with Susman, she won the doubles title.

In 1963, she claimed her first Southern California Championships title, defeating Darlene Hard in the final. At Wimbledon, she overcame Maria Bueno and Ann Haydon-Jones, but lost in the final to top-seeded Margaret Court.

Margaret Court was her nemesis during most of 1964. Court defeated her in the Wimbledon semifinals and in the Federation Cup final. King decided to become a full time tennis player that year.

In 1974, her win against Bobby Riggs in the sensational ‘Battle of the Sexes’ match, brought gender equality, especially in sports, to the fore. The game was watched by 50 million on TV.

The 1975 Wimbledon finals was one sided. King overcame the fourth seeded Australian born Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6-0, 6-1. The match lasted only 19 minutes. King described her performance a “near perfect match”