"New York City and Chicago with Kloss, her life partner. 18 finals (12 titles, 6 runner-ups) Singles Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (""née"" Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. She won the singles title at the inaugural WTA Tour Championships. She often represented the United States in the Federation Cup and the Wightman Cup. She was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups."
"1985, Kloss was a player and coach for the Miami Beach Breakers, and became vice-president of WTT in 1987, and executive director in 1991. Since 2001, she has been the chief executive officer and commissioner of World Team Tennis. Ilana Kloss Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis, since 2001. She was the World's No. 1 ranked Doubles player in 1976, World No. 19 in singles in 1979. Kloss was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is Jewish. Kloss is the partner of Billie Jean King, the"
"Judy Dixon Judy Dixon (born August 16, 1949) is an American tennis player and collegiate tennis coach, known as a ""pioneer"" in women's athletics for being the first person to sue a major university for sex discrimination under Title IX. Dixon grew up in New Jersey, and played national-level tennis as a teen. In 1967, she won the national junior indoor championship, and was ranked in the top-20. She was invited to substitute for Rosie Casals, who was injured, as Billie Jean King's doubles partner. For two tournaments she partnered with Billie Jean King, then ranked No. 1; Dixon was"
"Billie Jean King securing the professional women tennis players, and Dr. Leonard Bloom, along with Arthur Ashe and Wilt Chamberlain, securing the professional men players.. The league began play in May 1974, with George MacCall as Commissioner of the 16 teams: Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo-Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Detroit, Florida (Miami), San Diego/Hawaii, Houston, Los Angeles, Minnesota (Minneapolis-St.Paul), New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. The original league format included a four-colored tennis court, a 44-contest season, and teams of at least two men and two women. A match consisted of the first player or team to win five games, with"
"public in a ""Ms."" magazine article. Larry had revealed Billie Jean's abortion without consulting her. In 1976, King invented a smokeless ashtray, called The Clean Air King. Billie Jean became the major owner of World Team Tennis in 1984. Larry and Billie Jean King divorced in 1987. When Larry and Billie Jean lived in San Mateo, California, they became good friends with Charles Schulz, creator of the comic strip ""Peanuts"", and with his wife, Jean. They played tennis in Schulz's Indoor Hockey Arena in Santa Rosa, California with many other professional tennis players. King and Denis Murphy also founded Roller"
"Ilana Kloss Ilana Sheryl Kloss (born 22 March 1956) is a former professional tennis player, tennis coach, and commissioner of World TeamTennis, since 2001. She was the World's No. 1 ranked Doubles player in 1976, World No. 19 in singles in 1979. Kloss was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is Jewish. Kloss is the partner of Billie Jean King, the US tennis player. The two of them became minority owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team in September 2018. Before turning professional, in 1972 she won the juniors singles title at Wimbledon. She won the SA doubles title"
"Jaime King Jaime King (born April 23, 1979) is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency already represented another Jaime—the older, then-more famous model Jaime Rishar. A successful model, King was discovered at age 14 in 1993 and appeared in ""Vogue"", ""Mademoiselle"" and ""Harper's Bazaar"", among other fashion magazines. From 1998, she moved into acting, taking small film roles. Her first major role was in ""Pearl Harbor"" (2001) and her first"
"fall of 1964 and married in Long Beach, California, on September 17, 1965. Billie Jean credited Larry with introducing her to feminism and for pushing her to pursue tennis as a career. Billie Jean later said she ""was totally in love with Larry"" when they married. By 1968, King realized that she was attracted to women, and in 1971, began an intimate relationship with her secretary, Marilyn Barnett (born Marilyn Kathryn McRae on January 28, 1948). Billie Jean acknowledged the relationship when it became public in a May 1981 ""palimony"" lawsuit filed by Barnett, making Billie Jean the first prominent"
"King suffered five miscarriages and an ectopic pregnancy prior to her first successful pregnancy. In February 2015, King announced she was pregnant with the couple's second son. Their second son, Leo Thames, was born July 16, 2015. Taylor Swift is his godmother. Jaime King Jaime King (born April 23, 1979) is an American actress and model. In her modeling career and early film roles, she used the names Jamie King and James King, which was a childhood nickname given to King by her parents, because her agency already represented another Jaime—the older, then-more famous model Jaime Rishar. A successful model,"
"to pick Billie Jean at her best. Consistently, Chris [Evert] 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 learned to play tennis on the public courts of Long Beach, California, and was coached by tennis teacher Clyde Walker. She furthered her tennis career at the Los Angeles Tennis Club. She was an aggressive, hard-hitting net-rusher with excellent speed, Chris Evert, however, said about King, ""Her weakness"
"Philadelphia Freedoms The Philadelphia Freedoms is a tennis team currently competing in World TeamTennis. The team traces its origins to WTT's inaugural season, in 1974. The original team starred tennis legend and social pioneer Billie Jean King, who had beaten Bobby Riggs in the ""Battle of the Sexes"" the previous year. Other members of the team were: Fred Stolle (Australia), Brian Fairlie (New Zealand), Buster Mottram (U.K.), Julie Anthony (US), Tory Ann Fretz (US), Betsy Nagelsen (US) and Kathy Kuykendall (US). Julie Anthony later married the owner of the team, Dick Butera, and they settled in Aspen, Colorado, where she"
"The centerpiece of the team was tennis legend Billie Jean King who served as its player-coach. King became the first woman to coach a professional sports team that included male players. Once King was signed on with the Freedoms, her good friend Elton John decided to write and record the song ""Philadelphia Freedom"" to wish her luck on her new venture with WTT and for the team to use as an anthem. John was such a big fan of the Freedoms that he attended home matches wearing the team's uniform and sat on the bench with the players. Although recorded"
"tennis career to pay attorneys. Also in 1971, Billie had an abortion that was made public in a ""Ms."" magazine article. Larry had revealed Billie Jean's abortion without consulting her. Concerning the personal cost of concealing her sexuality for so many years, Billie Jean said: Billie Jean and Larry remained married through the palimony suit fallout. The marriage ended in 1987 after Billie Jean fell in love with her doubles partner, Ilana Kloss. Billie Jean and Larry remained on good terms, with Billie Jean serving as godmother to Larry's son from his subsequent marriage. Billie Jean King has residences in"
"""Her road to success was a challenging one,"" said Billie Jean King, ""but I never saw her back down."" ""To anyone, she was an inspiration, because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were Black,"" said former New York City Mayor David Dinkins. ""I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps,"" wrote Venus Williams. ""Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on."" Gibson was born on"
"Virginia Wade, 2–0 versus Maria Bueno, 2–0 versus Ann Haydon-Jones, 2–0 versus Rosemary Casals, 1–0 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 1–0 versus Françoise Dürr, 1–1 versus Margaret Court, 1–2 versus Chris Evert, 0–1 versus Christine Truman Janes, and 0–2 versus Nancy Richey Gunter. This was the first important singles title of King's career.<br> The world rankings in this table are from Lance Tingay of the London Daily Telegraph for 1959 through 1967 and from Bud Collins for 1968 through 1983.<br> Billie Jean King career statistics This is a list of the main career statistics of former tennis player Billie Jean King."
"Hockey International, a professional hockey league that operated from 1993 to 1999. Murphy had also been instrumental in the founding of the American Basketball Association and the World Hockey Association. King is a Master duplicate bridge player and Director. He founded Bridge University to promote bridge throughout the country. He is a past president of the Grass Valley Bridge Club. King lives in Grass Valley, California, with his wife, Nancy, and two children, Sky and Katie. According to the movie ""Battle of the Sexes"", Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss are godparents to the Kings' children. Larry King"
"of America, which opened in 2008. The museum is the home of the Billie Jean King International Women's Sports Center, a comprehensive women's sports hall of fame and exhibit. King and her then-husband Larry co-founded World Team Tennis in 1974. The couple used their savings to put on a team tennis event at the Oakland Coliseum. King remained involved with World Team Tennis for decades, eventually sharing ownership with her ex-husband, her life partner Ilana Kloss and USTA. In 1999, King was elected to serve on the Board of Directors of Philip Morris Incorporated, garnering some criticism from anti-tobacco groups."
"Billie Jean King career statistics This is a list of the main career statistics of former tennis player Billie Jean King. By winning the 1968 Australian Championships title, King became the 7th player to complete the mixed doubles career Grand Slam. A = did not participate in the tournament SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December. A = did not participate in the tournament SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to"
"announced on the night of the ceremony. The nominees were: England Netball team was announced as the winners of the team of the year award. Billie Jean King became the third woman and third tennis player to be given the Lifetime achievement award. King had won 39 Grand Slam titles in both singles and doubles competitions through out her career, with 20 coming at Wimbledon. In 1961 King and Karen Hantze Susman became the youngest pair to win the women's doubles title at Wimbledon. Through out her career King was world singles number one in six years and won 129"
"became well known as a hustler and gambler. He organized numerous exhibition challenges, inviting active and retired tennis pros to participate. In September 1973, at age 55, he held one such event against the then current women's champion Billie Jean King, which he lost. Their prime time ""Battle of the Sexes"" match remains one of the most famous tennis events of all time, with a $100,000 ($ today) winner-take-all prize. Born and raised in the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, Riggs was one of six children of Agnes (Jones) and Gideon Wright Riggs, a minister. He was an excellent"
"""Battle of the Sexes"" tennis match against Bobby Riggs. 1973 - Billie Jean King founded the Women's Tennis Association, uniting all of women's professional tennis in one tour. 1973 - Terry Williams Munz became the first woman in America awarded an athletic scholarship when she accepted a golf scholarship from the University of Miami. 1973 - The first American to win the gymnastics title and an Olympic gold was Marcia Frederick. 1974 - The Women's Sports Foundation was created by Billie Jean King. It is ""a charitable educational organization dedicated to increasing the participation of girls and women in sports"
"Dick and Ken Butera as a charter member of WTT in 1973. The team began play in WTT's inaugural 1974 season. The Freedoms played their home matches at the Spectrum. The centerpiece of the team was tennis legend Billie Jean King who served as its player-coach. King became the first woman to coach a professional sports team that included male players. Once King was signed on with the Freedoms, her good friend Elton John decided to write and record the song ""Philadelphia Freedom"" to wish her luck on her new venture with WTT and for the team to use as"
"professional tennis tour for women and helped organize a group of nine (the Original Nine) top women players: Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz. Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, and Valerie Ziegenfuss. He obtained the backing of Gladys Heldman of World Tennis Magazine and Joe Cullman, CEO of Philip Morris, and the Virginia Slims pro circuit was started. In 1973, along with Dennis Murphy, Jordan Kaiser and Fred Barman, King developed the concept of World Team Tennis, and started the league the following year. Also in 1971, Billie had an abortion that was made"
"their tennis investment. Everyone comes away happy. Here's hoping this is an annual event. Maybe next year you combine genders?"" 2009 Billie Jean King Cup March 2, 2009, marked the inaugural year of the Billie Jean King Cup and the first time women's tennis had been played at Madison Square Garden since 2000, when the year-ending Chase Championships were held there. Broadcast internationally on HBO, the event featured 2008 US Open Champion Serena Williams, 2008 Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams, 2008 French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic and 2008 year end world No. 1 ranked player Jelena Janković, who filled in as"
"how nice it was to be No. 1. Believe me, it's the best time in your life. Don't let anyone ever tell you different. ... My only regret is that I had to do too much ""off"" the court. Deep down, I wonder how good I really could have been if I [had] concentrated just on tennis. Julie Heldman, who frequently played King but never felt close to her, said about King's personality, One of the reasons I've never gotten close to Billie Jean is that I've never felt strong enough to survive against that overwhelming personality of hers. She"
"(clay and hard). The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has been played every year since its inception. During the 2006 US Open, the complex was renamed to ""USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center"" in honor of Billie Jean King, a four-time US Open singles champion and women's tennis pioneer. From 1984 through 2015, the US Open deviated from traditional scheduling practices for tennis tournaments with a concept that came to be known as ""Super Saturday"": the men's and women's finals were played on the final Saturday and Sunday of the tournament respectively, and their respective"
"2009 Billie Jean King Cup March 2, 2009, marked the inaugural year of the Billie Jean King Cup and the first time women's tennis had been played at Madison Square Garden since 2000, when the year-ending Chase Championships were held there. Broadcast internationally on HBO, the event featured 2008 US Open Champion Serena Williams, 2008 Wimbledon Champion Venus Williams, 2008 French Open Champion Ana Ivanovic and 2008 year end world No. 1 ranked player Jelena Janković, who filled in as a wild card for the injured 2008 Australian Open Champion Maria Sharapova. Serena Williams won her semifinal match against Ana"
"Vania King Vania King ( ; born February 3, 1989) is an American tennis player. King won both the 2010 Wimbledon and 2010 US Open women's doubles titles with Kazakhstani partner Yaroslava Shvedova. King's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1982. She is the youngest of four children. Her brother Phillip was a two-time All-American at Duke University and two-time US junior champion. Vania is a graduate of Long Beach Poly High School in California. In 2006 King won her only WTA singles title at the PTT Bangkok Open, a Tier III tournament. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn"
"Vania King Vania King ( ; born February 3, 1989) is an American tennis player. King won both the 2010 Wimbledon and 2010 US Open women's doubles titles with Kazakhstani partner Yaroslava Shvedova. King's parents moved to the United States from Taiwan in 1982. She is the youngest of four children. Her brother Phillip was a two-time All-American at Duke University and two-time US junior champion. Vania is a graduate of Long Beach Poly High School in California. In 2006 King won her only WTA singles title at the PTT Bangkok Open, a Tier III tournament. She defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn"
"talks about me being the smart one. Let me tell you, Billie Jean's the smartest one, the cleverest one you'll ever see. She was the one who was able to channel everything into winning, into being the most consummate tennis player. , another frequent opponent of King, said, For a time, I think I was as close to Billie Jean as anyone ever was. But as soon as I got to the point where I could read her too well, she tried to dissociate the relationship. She doesn't want to risk appearing weak in front of anybody. She told me"
"Jean Balukas Jean Balukas (born June 28, 1959) is an American pool player from Brooklyn, New York, and ranks among the stellar players in the history of the sport. At least through the 1990s, when Allison Fisher began her ascendancy, Balukas was widely acknowledged as the sole candidate for greatest female player ever. Described as a ""trailblazer, a child prodigy, a loner who rebelled against dress codes for women—the pool equivalent of Billie Jean King"", she is a five-time Billiards Congress of America (BCA) Player of the Year, was the youngest inductee into the BCA Hall of Fame and the"
"famous ""Battle of the Sexes"" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973, Segura openly supported Riggs. When King won the match, Segura declared disgustedly that Riggs was only the third-best senior player, behind himself and Gardnar Mulloy. He challenged King to another match, which King refused. In the 1966 episode of ""I Dream of Jeannie"" titled ""Always on Sunday"", Segura made a cameo appearance as himself. Segura retired from playing Singles after the 1970 US Open at Forest Hills at age 49. Segura was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island,"
"Billie Holiday Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), better known as Billie Holiday, was an American jazz singer with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed ""Lady Day"" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills, which made up for her limited range and lack of formal music education. After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in"