The legend of tennis Billie Jean King is an intrepid defender of the rights of women and women in sport since the start of her career, but she said that there was still work to do.
King entered history in 1973 when she defeated Bobby Riggs, tennis player, in the famous match “Battle of the Sexes”. More than 90 million people around the world have passed on the match, according to the official BJK website. This is the basis of the 2017 film of the same name with Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
Based on his progress for women in sport, King helped to found the women’s tennis association and became its first president. She also put pressure for a price equal to men and women at the US Open, making it the first major tournament to offer equal prices across the sexes.
While the US Open 2025 descends to New York, King sat with Alex Sherman from CNBC for a large interview on the state of female sports, uniting tennis through male and women’s leagues and its point of view on aging gracefully.
Level the rules of the game
Growing up, King said that her father believed in her as much as in his younger brother. She said that the way men use their power is a key element in women’s rights.
“We have learned not to ask what we want and need. We have completely learned not to do it,” she said.
But King told examples of how women have caused real and tangible changes in the industry when they express themselves.
When David Stern was the NBA commissioner, King was seated with him in the President’s box at the US Open. After working on the courage, she said that she had asked Stern to promise that he would not let the WNBA fail. He accepted and obtained financial support to obtain the League on a solid basis.
Likewise, King said that hockey legend Kendall Coyne Schofield came to her and his wife, Ilana Kloss, to recruit their aid to start the professional female hockey league, which experienced his first match in 2024.
“I watched it, I said,” You have no idea how brave you are, because most girls do not even have the courage to ask. “But now we have a league because she asked.
King said that male and female tennis players have worked more and more over the years. But its objective to unite the two leagues – ATP and WTA – is always a work in progress.
“This is my prayer for the future,” she said.
Graciously
For King, aging just means more opportunities.
She said that she and her wife were trying to play tennis together three times a week.
“I have read research, you can live almost – especially with tennis, it’s the healthiest sport in the world – that I can live almost 10 years, and that’s what I want,” she said.
Tuesday, carpooling company Lyft announced that he joins King in his “Silver Is Gold” campaign in order to crop the conversation around aging.
King said that Lyft Silver, a service designed for the elderly, is useful because he uses a larger font, offers technical support with a living person and associates users with vehicles that are easier to enter. She said he grants freedom and independence to older adults.
And while older populations have turned more and more towards pickleball in recent years as a source of exercise, King has said that it sticks to tennis.
“I have played it several times, but I don’t like sound,” she said. “As long as I can play tennis, this is where the magic is for me, when the ball hits the strings.”