Billie Jean King receives the lifetime achievement award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year

Billie Jean King is a fantastic icon of our beloved sport, and she is widely regarded as one of the greatest female players of all time with her 39 slam titles (singles and doubles).

The American legend receives the lifetime achievement award at the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year especially for being one of the strongest advocates of gender equality.

King also captured the imagination of people around the world after in 1973 she won the Battle of the Sexes match against Bobby Riggs. Later on, the 75-year-old was also the founder of the Woman Tennis Association (WTA).

Each of us is an influencer. KING

Billie Jean commented

“We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, and we all have an opportunity to share our lives, our experiences and our vision for the future. Each of us is an influencer, and to all the athletes who truly have a platform, let’s continue to use the power of our voices and our actions to inspire others.”

[easy-social-share buttons="facebook" sharebtn_style="button" sharebtn_icon="plus" counters=0 style="button" message="yes" template="6" size="xxl" fullwidth="no" point_type="simple" facebook_text="Share if you like Billie Jean King"]

She has been a huge advocate for women’s rights and equal rights. MURRAY

Andy is currently training in Miami. The former world no.1 expressed his strong approval about the award to say

“She has been a huge advocate for women’s rights and equal rights, and I think that has translated into tennis, unlike many other sports. We have pretty equal prize money across the men’s and women’s tours, and that is extremely significant. She was advocating for that probably 30-40 years ahead of her time, and that is one of the most impressive things she’s done.

She is someone who stood up for what she believed. I imagine at the time she went through a lot, but ultimately she has changed our sport for the better by doing that. More athletes should take her lead.”

Great to hear.

[fb-reactions]

[easy-tweet tweet=”‘She has been a huge advocate for women’s rights and equal rights, and I think that has translated into tennis, unlike many other sports.'” user=”tennistonic” hashtags=”murray, equality”]