"7 of top 10 highest paid women athletes are tennis players" - Billie Jean King takes pride in sport's progress towards fair prize money distribution

Billie Jean King has expressed joy at tennis' progress towards fair prize money distribution between genders.

King and nine others protested the unequal financial gains for men and women on the tennis circuit and broke away to form the Virginia Slims women’s tour, which became the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973.

In 1971, there were 19 Virginia Slims tournaments along with other events sponsored by the International Tennis Federation, including the four Grand Slams. At the start of that year, King set herself the goal of breaking the $100,000 mark in prize money earnings.

She began by winning five straight Virginia Slims International titles before finding out in February that she was pregnant. After discussions with her-then husband, Larry King, she decided that she would have an abortion when she was five weeks pregnant.

The 12-time Grand Slam singles champion decided to skip the French Open before losing to Evonne Goolagong in the Wimbledon Championships semifinals. She then beat Chris Evert en route to clinching her second US Open title, for which she pocketed $5,000.

Later, at the Virginia Slims International held at the Phoenix Tennis Center, King did not drop a single set on her way and clinched her 11th title on the Virginia Slims tour to reach the $200,000 mark. She later won another title that year to finish 1971 with $117,000 in prize money.

King took to social media to recall her breakthrough year and stated that tennis has come a long way since then as seven of the world's top 10 highest-paid women athletes are all tennis players.

"52 years ago today, I won $4K in a tournament, & became the first woman athlete to earn $100K in prize money in a single year. Today, 7 of the top 10 highest paid women athletes are all tennis players (Forbes). We have come so far, but the work must go on," she wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

According to a Forbes report, Naomi Osaka (1st), Serena Williams (2nd), Emma Raducanu (4th), Iga Swiatek (5th), Venus Williams (6th), Coco Gauff (7th), and Jessica Pegula (9th) are all in the top 10 list of the highest-paid female athletes in 2022.

Freestyle skier Eileen Gu (3rd), Gymnast Simone Biles (8th), and Golfer Minjee Lee (10th) round up the top 10.

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“What a great day that was” - Bille Jean King on breaking the $100,000 prize-money barrier in 1971

Bille Jean King at the 2023 US Open.

Bille Jean King, who has always fought for equality and women's rights on the tennis circuits, has always looked back on her achievements in 1971 with pride. She stated that crossing the $100,000 mark in prize money was a special moment and that they had a party later to celebrate the occasion.

“What a great day that was. I remember the Levines (Bill and Ina) had a party for us over at their house. They had a cake that said 100,000 on it and had my (wire rim) glasses I loved to wear in those days. It was so sweet,” she told azcentral.

The 79-year-old stated that her feat was spoken about far and wide, which helped put them on the map and on the road to a better, brighter future.

“It meant a lot to me. It’s great they made a big deal of it because why do it if you’re not going to tell the world. It helped put us on the map. Sometimes how you start is how you finish. It got us started right, and women’s tennis has always been the leader in women’s sports because of those moments,” she added.