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MSN Encarta - Billie Jean King (423 words) |
 | King, Billie Jean, born in 1943, American tennis player, whose intense competitiveness, outspoken support for better treatment of women players, and victory, in 1973, over former men's star Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match were all instrumental in increasing the popularity of women's tennis. |
| King was also successful at the United States championships (renamed U.S. Open at the beginning of the so-called open era in 1968), winning the singles title four times (1967, 1971, 1972, 1974) and the doubles title five times (1964, 1967, 1974, 1978, 1980). |
| King was an advocate for equal treatment for women in sports, and her defeat of Bobby Riggs in an exhibition match in 1973 proved to many people that women could compete with men in athletics. |
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