Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean Kingis an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. King won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 singles, 16 women's doubles, and 11 mixed doubles titles. King won the singles title at the inaugural WTA Tour Championships. King 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. For three years, King was the United States'...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionTennis Player
Date of Birth22 November 1943
CityLong Beach, CA
CountryUnited States of America
I like to see what future generations are thinking about.
I think it's really important to have portion control. I don't believe in losing weight quickly.
It's important to try to get people to think about women's wellness.
I didn't really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself.
We have, or have had women presidents or prime ministers in Liberia, Chile, Germany, Great Britain...and yet the US of A still hasn't had a women president. It's just beyond my thinking. Look at Congress...
It's about learning your craft. That's a wonderful thing--especially with today's consumerism and instant gratification. You can'tbuy that. It's about making decisions, corrections, choices. I don't think it's so much about becoming a tennis player. It's about becoming a person.
I think younger players probably just think they are who they are-they don't think about coming out. Unless you're number one in the world, nobody cares, usually.
I would just never out anybody. I think everyone has to find it in their own way and their own time.
Reputation is what others think about you. What's far more important is character, because that is what you think about yourself.
Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.
As far as U.S. tennis, we need new stars coming up in the pipeline, but I don't know if we have it.
When a child signs up for tennis, he or she is put on a team. I put them in a circle and then I make sure they name their own team. I would have them do their skill drills as a team and their fun drills together as a team, then they have to have a match at the end of every week. They can't just have what they call a lesson today every week.
You want people to feel like they belong to something. And not be elitist. You don't want us to be elitist.
Don't worry about what people say.