Billie Jean King always knew she wanted to be number one. The 39-time Grand Slam winner and gender equality trailblazer knew since she was a teenager that she was going to go all the way to the top and shape the sport of tennis forever — and she did.
But, the thought of never completing her degree at Cal State LA — then Los Angeles State College when she attended in 1961 — gnawed away at the back of her mind.
And then one day, she had an epiphany: To finish what she had started.
“Finally, I’m in a place in my life I can do it,” King said. “I have choices now that I didn’t have before.”
A week before the unveiling ceremony of the bronze statue in her likeness in October 2024, she decided she would re-enroll to complete her degree in history. The announcement was written into the speech that she would give to a raring crowd of student-athletes, alumni and university officials in front of the gymnasium. The decision to make her plan public was one she made as she reached the podium.
“Everybody in the office is so excited,” she said of her team. “Everybody’s really gotten behind it like my cheerleaders.”
She sees her return to school as a way to accomplish a long-sought goal for herself, and as a way to drive home the value of meeting one’s aspirations at any age, combatting notions of ageism that especially impact women.
“School doesn’t demand you have to be a certain age, which I think is great,” King said. “You never stop learning, really.”
King attended Cal State LA briefly from 1961 to 1964, during which she won her first Wimbleton doubles title alongside Karen Hantze Susman. She left college to pursue her dream, winning many Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles and becoming the world No. 1 female tennis player six times.
Throughout her career, King advanced women’s equality and rights on and off the court. She founded the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Women’s Tennis Association which promoted equal pay and opportunity for players, and was a key proponent in the adoption of Title IX in 1972. Her iconic and decisive victory over Bobby Riggs in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” is widely regarded as one of the greatest moments in sports history, and furthered women’s equality in sports and the workplace. She is also a fierce advocate for LGBTQ+ rights alongside her partner Ilana Kloss.
Even in the dawning years of her athletic journey, King was a force on the tennis court, but it was a different story in the classroom. With a laugh, King said she was “terrible,” and often found it challenging balancing her studies with her tennis career.
“I’m seeing everybody on campus, and I’m hitting tennis balls,” King said. “I love reading, so I would read if I had something to read, but going to class and really doing it right? No. If I had to do it over again, I would do it very differently.”
Though she would miss class, she said she loved talking with her professors, and remembers one history class on the British Empire well, applying what she learned in class for when she traveled abroad.
“I was going to Wimbledon at the time, so I was very much into the U.K. and all that, so I was connecting what I’m doing now with the past,” King said. “I’m a big believer in the more you know about history, the more you know about yourself, but more importantly, it helps you shape the future.”
King always finds time to give back. The Billie Jean King & Friends event has raised over $4.5 million in scholarships for student-athletes for over 20 years. She has said that while “legacy is what other people say about you,” it’s the contributions that make a lasting impact.
“I’ve always felt that way, even as a kid,” King said. “Just make a difference. Do it.”
She recalled the intoxicating power of Reverend Bob Richards’ sermons at her childhood church: “This guy, if you listen to him, you think you can do anything.” Richards, a former Olympic pole-vaulter, asked a young King what she wanted to do in her life, and was surprised at her declaration in becoming the greatest tennis player in the world.
“I know he asked me what I wanted to be, and I know he didn’t think I’d make it because I was a little chubby with glasses, like ‘she’s not going to make it,’” she said with a laugh. “Then you know what I thought? ‘I’ll show you, baby!’”
King is currently taking around 16 units of classes this semester, and plans to join the graduating class of 2026.
