Don’t worry about what people say.
BILLIE JEAN KINGBobby Riggs was one of my heroes. I admired him. That’s one of the reasons I beat him – because I respected him.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
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As far as U.S. tennis, we need new stars coming up in the pipeline, but I don’t know if we have it.
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I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.
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Natural talent only determines the limits of your athletic potential. It’s dedication and a willingness to discipline your life that makes you great.
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Hope it works out really well, and you hope that builds a stronger connection over time. You can’t be friends with everybody.
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I always listen, I ask children, I even ask adults in tennis, “What are your children playing?” And most of the time it’s not tennis. It’s pathetic.
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Pressure is a privilege – it only comes to those who earn it.
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The old boy network is still very strong and very true. Just look at the stock exchange and how many men and women are there. It is still very much run by men.
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When I was playing, we didn’t have to compete against everybody in the world. Now it’s a truly global sport, so the competition’s much greater, just like it is for our children in every other area, whether it be in science or technology or whatever you talk about.
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It’s important to try to get people to think about women’s wellness.
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I always think it’s best to pretend you’re in a tenuous position. Just as a player, you always want to stay in the now and work hard but also have goals for the future.
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I have a lot to say, and if I’m not No. 1, I can’t say it.
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At 62 you want to keep moving; that’s important.
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You can’tbuy that. It’s about making decisions, corrections, choices. I don’t think it’s so much about becoming a tennis player. It’s about becoming a person.
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It’s really impossible for athletes to grow up. On the one hand, you’re still a child, still playing a game. But on the other hand, you’re a superhuman hero that everyone dreams of being. No wonder we have such a hard time understanding who we are.
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When they take surveys of women in business, of the Fortune 500, the successful women, 80% of them, say they were in sports as a young woman.
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I must keep my sights on the final goal, to win, win, win-and with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance.
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Women’s sports is still in its infancy. The beginning of women’s sports in the United States started in 1972, with the passage of Title 9 for girls to finally get athletic scholarships.
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I would just never out anybody. I think everyone has to find it in their own way and their own time.
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Bobby Riggs was one of my heroes. I admired him. That’s one of the reasons I beat him – because I respected him.
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I feel that tennis is an art form that is capable of moving the players and the audience – at least a knowledgeable audience-in almost sensual ways.
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Champions adjust and pressure is a privilege.
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Some people do have softer boundaries.
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When we reach the point where the women athletes are getting their pick of dates just as easily as the men athletes, then we’ve really and truly arrived. Parity at last!
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In business, everything starts with integrity. Otherwise it falls apart, though it does take time to find out who has integrity.
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A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.
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I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life.
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