Billie Jean King won 39 major titles across her career, placing her third behind Margaret Court (62) and Martina Navratilova (59). Her 12 singles titles, 16 women's doubles titles and 11 mixed doubles titles demonstrated mastery across disciplines.
Within the Open Era, King won eight major singles titles, ranking seventh in history. She reached 12 major singles finals and 28 quarterfinals.
King accumulated 129 career singles titles — 62 as an amateur and 67 on the WTA Tour. Her major debut came at the U.S. Nationals in 1959. She won her first major championship in 1966 at Wimbledon, defeating Maria Bueno 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Over 51 major tournaments from 1959 through 1983, King reached the semifinals 27 times and quarterfinals 40 times. She also played 18 major singles finals, 29 doubles championship matches and 18 mixed doubles title matches.
The 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" against Bobby Riggs at Houston's Astrodome became her signature moment. The match drew an estimated 50 million television viewers worldwide and boosted the case for women's equality in sports.
In 1973, King founded the Women's Tennis Association, convening roughly 60 players at London's Gloucester Hotel and becoming its president. She then pushed for equal prize money at the US Open, securing sponsorship to guarantee pay parity for female players.
King received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 and the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. The US Open's venue in Queens was renamed the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in her honor. The Federation Cup was renamed the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020.
Life magazine named King one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century" in 1990. She was one of only four sports figures on that list, alongside Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
