Bobby Riggs was one of my heroes. I admired him. That’s one of the reasons I beat him – because I respected him.
BILLIE JEAN KINGI always respect right off the bat because we are human, but then over time you learn who the person truly is, just like they learn about you.
More Billie Jean King Quotes
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I knew after my first lesson what I wanted to do with my life.
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The trouble with being number one in the world – in anything- is that it takes a certain mentality to attain that position, and that is something of a driving, perfectionist attitude, so that once you do achieve number one, you don’t relax and enjoy it.
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You do have to get players every year. You have to deal with calendar. You have to deal with all kinds of things in our sport, like every sport does.
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In the complete overall history of tennis, I figure I’ll be worth a sentence or two….
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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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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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You just know where to put the ball. You just feel it. It has been computed into your brain so many times it is there.
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If you have one gay experience, does that mean you’re gay? If you have one heterosexual experience, does that mean you’re straight? Life doesn’t work quite so cut and dried.
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Being Number One isn’t everything to me, but for those few hours on the court it’s way ahead of whatever’s in second place.
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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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No one changes the world who isn’t obsessed.
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Some people do have softer boundaries.
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That’s why my place in the all-time rankings means so very little to me, because I know I won’t be anybody’s number one, and it’s that same old thing: if you’re not number one, then what does it really matter?
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I would love to be a player today. I had the right personality for it.
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A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.
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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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You have got to want to be the best before you can even begin to reach for that goal, and you have got to be prepared to sacrifice a lot to get there.
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Tennis is a perfect combination of violent action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity.
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Trust and respect is something you earn, not something that is given.
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Don’t go into debt and don’t spend a lot. It’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you spend.
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I didn’t really care if I had a coach that much, me personally, because I was brought up to think for myself.
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I always liked co-ed events best so we have two men and two women on each team.
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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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Winning comes down to who can execute under pressure.
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I like entrepreneurial people; I like people who take risks.
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Champions keep playing until they get it right.
BILLIE JEAN KING