Career
King's triumph at the French Open in 1972 made her only the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events, a "career Grand Slam." (Five additional women have completed a career Grand Slam since King.) King also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles. In women's doubles, only the Australian Open eluded her. King won a record 20 career titles at Wimbledon – six singles, ten women's doubles, and four mixed doubles. (Martina Navratilova also has 20 career titles at Wimbledon.) King played 51 Grand Slam singles events from 1959 through 1983 she reached at least the semifinals in 27 and at least the quarterfinals in 40 out of her 51 attempts. King was the runner-up in six Grand Slam singles events. An indicator of King's mental toughness at crunch time in Grand Slam singles tournaments was her 11–2 career record in deuce third sets, i.e., third sets that were tied 5–5 before being resolved.
King won 129 singles titles, and her career prize money totaled US$1,966,487. In Federation Cup finals, King was on the winning United States team seven times, in 1963, 1966, 1967, and 1976 through 1979. Her career win–loss record was 52–4 (26–3 in singles and 26–1 in doubles). She won the last 30 matches she played (excluding two unfinished matches), including 15 straight wins in both singles and doubles. In Wightman Cup competition, King's career win–loss record was 22–4 (14–2 in singles and 8–2 in doubles), winning her last nine matches (six in singles and three in doubles). The United States won the cup ten of the 11 years that King participated. In singles, King was 6–1 against Ann Haydon Jones, 4–0 against Virginia Wade, and 1–1 against Christine Truman Janes.
Read more about this topic: Billie Jean King
Famous quotes containing the word career:
“Clearly, society has a tremendous stake in insisting on a woman’s natural fitness for the career of mother: the alternatives are all too expensive.”
—Ann Oakley (b. 1944)
“In time your relatives will come to accept the idea that a career is as important to you as your family. Of course, in time the polar ice cap will melt.”
—Barbara Dale (b. 1940)
“The 19-year-old Diana ... decided to make her career that of wife. Today that can be a very, very iffy line of work.... And what sometimes happens to the women who pursue it is the best argument imaginable for teaching girls that they should always be able to take care of themselves.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)