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Early tennis career: 1959 through 1963

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As King began competing in 1959, she began working with new coaches including Frank Brennan (cite NY Times) and Alice Marble, who had won 18 Grand Slam titles as a player herself.[1] King made her Grand Slam debut at the 1959 U.S. Championships at age 15.[2] She lost in the first round.[3] King began playing at local, regional, and international tennis championships.[4]: 164  Sports Illustrated already pegged her as "one of the most promising youngsters on the West Coast."[5] King won her first tournament the next year in Philadelphia at the 1960 Philadelphia and District Grass Court Championships.[6][2] At her second attempt at the U.S. Championships, King made it to the third round, losing to Bernice Carr Vukovich of South Africa.[citation needed] Also in 1960, King reached the final of the National Girl’s 18 and Under Championships, losing to Karen Hantz Susmen. NYTimes. King's national tennis ranking improved from number 19 in 1959 to number 4 1960.[7]: 23  Despite the success, Marble terminated her professional relationship with King because for reasons stemming from King's ambition.[7]: 23 

King first gained international recognition in 1961 when the Long Beach Tennis Patrons, Century Club, and Harold Guiver raised $2,000 to send her to Wimbledon.[8] There, she won the women's doubles title in her first attempt while partnering Karen Hantz Susman.[9] King was 17 and Susmen was 18, making them the youngest team to the Wimbledon doubles title. NYTimes King has less luck that year at 1961 Wimbledon Women's Singles, losing to fifth-seeded Yola Ramírez Ochoa in a two-day match on Centre Court.[10] For the 1962 singles tournament at Wimbledon, King upset Margaret Court, the World No. 1 and top seed, in a second round match by attacking Court's forehand[11][12] This was the first time in Wimbledon history that the women's top seed had lost her first match.[13] That same year, King and Hantz Susman repeated their doubles victory at Wimbledon.[7]: 24  In 1963, King again faced Margaret Court at Wimbledon.[7]: 24  This time they met in the finals with Court prevailing.[7]: 24 

Old version

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King says that Maureen Connolly (an American tennis player, and the first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year, 1953) almost permanently destroyed Billie Jean's confidence when she told her, "I just want to let you know: You'll never make it. So don't bother."[14]

1960

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King lost four significant matches to veteran players. In May, she lost in the quarterfinals of the Southern California Championships to 43-year-old Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney, who was the first American to win the singles title at the Australian Championships in 1938. Two months later, King lost in the second round of the U.S. Women's Clay Court Championships to 35-year-old but second-seeded Dorothy Head Knode, who went on to win the title for the fourth and final time. The next week, King was defeated in the semifinals of the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships by 42-year-old Margaret Osborne duPont, a six-time Grand Slam single champion. In her last tournament of the year, King, the top seed, lost in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Hard Court Championships to Cheney.

1961

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Although unseeded, King and Susman defeated the top seeded team of Renée Schuurman Haygarth and Sandra Reynolds Price in the quarterfinals[citation needed] and the third seeded team of Margaret Court and Jan Lehane O'Neill in the final.[15] after King had received a first round bye.

Earlier in the year, King lost to Susman in the final of the Southern California Championships but successfully defended her title in Philadelphia and won the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships for the first time. Christine Truman Janes, the fourth seed, defeated the unseeded King in the second round of the U.S. Championships . At the Pacific Southwest Championships, King lost in the third round to Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney (then 45 years old) for the third consecutive time. Playing in the Wightman Cup for the first time, King defeated Ann Haydon-Jones but lost to Janes.

1962

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In 1962, King lost to Dorothy "Dodo" Cheney (then 46 years old) for the fourth time in four career matches, this time in the semifinals of the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. The following week, Karen Hantze Susman defeated King in the final of the Southern California Championships for the second consecutive year. In only her second career singles match at Wimbledon, King upset Margaret Court, the World No. 1 and top seed, in a second round match by attacking Court's forehand[11][12] This was the first time in Wimbledon history that the women's top seed had lost her first match.[13] King eventually reached the quarterfinals, losing to fifth-seeded Ann Haydon-Jones. One month later, Court defeated King in the semifinals of both the Pennsylvania Lawn Tennis Championships (6–4, 6–3) and the Eastern Grass Court Championships (6–3, 6–4). At the Wightman Cup, King and Susman lost their only match of the tie to the team of Jones and Christine Truman Janes. At the U.S. Championships, King got injured and retired from her first round match with Victoria Palmer while leading 8–6, 0–5. King ended her year by losing to Renée Schuurman Haygarth in the quarterfinals of the Pacific Southwest Championships.

1963

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Billie Jean Moffitt (later King) at the Irish Open at Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club, Dublin in the 1960s where she won her first international title

In 1963, King won the Southern California Championships for the first time, defeating Darlene Hard in the final. At Wimbledon, the unseeded King defeated seventh-seeded Maria Bueno in the quarterfinals 6–2, 7–5 and third-seeded Ann Haydon-Jones in the semifinals 6–4, 6–4 before losing the final to top-seeded Margaret Court. The following week, King won her first international title at the Irish Championships. In Wightman Cup competition, King defeated Christine Truman Janes 6–4, 19–17 and Jones. King was seeded third at the U.S. Championships but lost her fourth round match with unseeded Deidre Catt. At the year ending Pacific Southwest Championships, King defeated Jones and Bueno before losing to Hard in the final.

1964

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In 1964, King won four relatively minor titles but lost to Margaret Court in the Wimbledon semifinals in two sets. She defeated Ann Haydon-Jones at both the Wightman Cup and Fed Cup but lost to Court in the final of the Federation Cup 6–2, 6–3. At the U.S. Championships, fifth-seeded Nancy Richey Gunter upset third-seeded King in the quarterfinals. Late in the year, King decided to make a full-time commitment to tennis. While a history major at Los Angeles State College King made the decision to play full-time when businessman Robert Mitchell, offered to pay her way to Australia so that she could train under the great Australian coach Mervyn Rose.[16] While in Australia, King played three tournaments that year and lost in the quarterfinals of the Queensland Grass Court Championships, the final of the New South Wales Championships (to Court), and the third round of the Victorian Championships.

1965

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In early 1965, King continued her three-month tour of Australia. She lost in the final of the South Australian Championships and the first round of the Western Australia Championships. At the Fed Cup in Melbourne, King defeated Ann Haydon-Jones to help the United States defeat the United Kingdom in the second round. However, Margaret Court again defeated King in the final. At the Australian Championships two weeks later, King lost to Court in the semifinals in two sets. At Wimbledon, King again lost in the semifinals, this time in three sets to Maria Bueno.[17] Her last tournament of the year was the U.S. Championships, where she defeated Jones in the quarterfinals and Bueno in the semifinals. In the final, King led 5–3 in both sets, was two points from winning the first set, and had two set points in the second set[18] before losing to Court in straight sets. King said that losing while being so close to winning was devastating, but the match proved to her that she was "good enough to be the best in the world. I'm going to win Wimbledon next year."[19]

King won six tournaments during the year. The annual convention of the United States Lawn Tennis Association ranking committee recommended awarding King the sole U.S. No. 1 position, however, the USLTA overruled its ranking committee, in part to retaliate against King for repeatedly skipping the National Clay Courts Championships. The result was Nancy Richey Gunter and King were ranked as co-U.S. No. 1.[20]NYTIMES

Potential Sources

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https://www.si.com/vault/1991/04/29/124076/racket-science-billie-jean-king-has-been-a-dynamo-as-a-tennis-champion-promoter-television-commentator-businesswoman-and-feminist-but-she-may-be-even-more-compelling-in-her-latest-career-teaching

  1. ^ Teele, Jack, "The Sports Beat", Long Beach Press-Telegram, November 12, 1959, page D-3
  2. ^ a b "Billie Jean King". International Tennis Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 15, 2017.
  3. ^ Nelson, Kathleen (July 3, 2011). "Three aces for Tennis". stltoday.com. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  4. ^ Bollinger, Michele; Tran, Dao (November 6, 2012). 101 Changemakers: Rebels and Radicals Who Changed U.S. History. Haymarket Books. ISBN 9781608461561.
  5. ^ Talbert, William F. (February 16, 1959). "New Hopes are Abounding on the Courts". SI.com. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
  6. ^ Hingston, Sandy (June 17, 2011). "Billie Jean King: Racquet Revolutionary - Page 4 of 5 - Philadelphia Magazine". Philadelphia Magazine. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e Ware, Susan (2011). "Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women's Sports". www.questia.com. Retrieved October 1, 2017. Closed access icon
  8. ^ "International Tennis Hall of Fame biography of Billie Jean Moffitt King". Archived from the original on November 19, 2006. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Official Wimbledon profile of BJK was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Collins, Bud (1989). My Life With the Pros. New York: E. P. Dutton. p. 261. ISBN 0-525-24659-2.
  11. ^ a b Billie Moffitt's Strategy – Attack!", Kansas City Times, June 27, 1962, page 15
  12. ^ a b Starr, Cynthia; King, Billie Jean (1988). We Have Come a Long Way: The Story of Women's Tennis. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 106. ISBN 0-07-034625-9.
  13. ^ a b "Wimbledon Upset", Beckley (West Virginia) Post-Herald, June 27, 1962, page 2
  14. ^ Deford, Frank; King, Billie Jean (1982). Billie Jean. New York, N.Y.: Viking. p. 96. ISBN 0-670-47843-1.
  15. ^ "Ladies' Doubles Finals 1913-2017". www.wimbledon.com. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  16. ^ Starr, Cynthia; King, Billie Jean (1988). We Have Come a Long Way: The Story of Women's Tennis. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 113–4. ISBN 0-07-034625-9.
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Santana, Miss Smith Grab U.S. Tennis Championships", Pacific Stars & Stripes, September 14, 1965, page 20
  19. ^ Starr, Cynthia; King, Billie Jean (1988). We Have Come a Long Way: The Story of Women's Tennis. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 114. ISBN 0-07-034625-9.
  20. ^ "Billie Jean Must Share No. 1 Rating", Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, California), February 6, 1966, page C-1
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