Why they rank here
King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 39 majors across all disciplines, including a record 20 Wimbledon titles counting singles, doubles and mixed. But her importance dwarfs even those totals. In 1973 she founded the WTA, threatened to boycott the US Open until it became the first major to pay women and men equally, and beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' before an estimated 90 million television viewers — a victory that reshaped public attitudes toward women's sport far beyond tennis. An aggressive serve-and-volley player and ferocious competitor, she reached world No.1 and won titles across grass, clay and hard courts over two decades. No player has done more to build the professional women's game or to win its economic and cultural battles, which is why her place among the immortals rests on a foundation the pure title-counters miss. The tour's premier team competition, the Billie Jean King Cup, now carries her name.
Career profile
Each bar shows how this athlete compares with the strongest in our all-time list for that metric.