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
In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I'll be worth a sentence or two.... That's why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won't be anybody's number one, and it's that same old thing: if you're not number one, then what does it really matter?
Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.
Winning is very tangible, it's very exciting, it's very pleasing, but it's momentary. If you can do things that last, that each generation can build upon, then that's when you're cooking.
The main thing is not a matter of wanting to win; the main thing is being scared to lose.
You've got to win in sports - that's talent - but you've also got to learn how to remind everybody how you did win, and how often. That comes with experience.
No matter how tough, no matter what kind of outside pressure, no matter how many bad breaks along the way, I must keep my sights on the final goal, to win, win, win-and with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance.
Martina's gone with people who don't want to be out, and it drives her crazy because she'd rather be open.
I think it's impossible to judge whether another person should come out. You just hope they will on their own time and their own terms.
It's fun to meet people from throughout the world who you don't have to explain yourself to.
They're not put on earth to be martyrs; they have to want to come out. It depends on your culture, where you work, where you live. Each person's circumstances are unique.
There is no life for girls in team sports past Little League. I got into tennis when I realized this, and because I thought golf would be too slow for me, and I was too scared to swim.
Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.
I like to see what future generations are thinking about.
As far as U.S. tennis, we need new stars coming up in the pipeline, but I don't know if we have it.