Billie Jean King's wife Ilana Kloss fondly revisits their first meeting, when she was 10 and King was a 23-year-old tennis player

Billie Jean King's wife Ilana Kloss recently recounted the first time she crossed paths with the tennis icon. Kloss revealed that their first meeting took place when she was just 10 years old and King was a 23-year-old tennis player.

King and Kloss first met in 1966, shortly after the American had tied the knot with Larry King, an attorney and real estate broker. However, they began dating after King's divorce from Larry in 1987. After being in a relationship for over three decades, King and Kloss got married in a private ceremony in 2018.

Kloss recently appeared on the "Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast" and fondly recounted the moment she first met King. She shared that they met when King traveled to South Africa to participate in a tournament where Kloss was serving as a ball kid.

“Well it’s an amazing story. Starts as a ball girl at the South African championships and Billie in the amateur days, Owen Williams who was the promoter of the South African Championships brought all of the best players to South Africa. They were, at the time, getting money under the table. I just grew up loving tennis. My mom sold programmes at the tournament and I was a ball kid,” Kloss said [9:30].

Kloss said that she remembers being just 10 years old and being awestruck by King's powerful serves, deft volleys, and the emotion and sheer passion she brought to the game.

“The very first time I saw Billie Jean, I was 10 years old. Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Tony Roche, all the best players in the world came and I was a ball girl. I just loved the way Billie served and volleyed, always charged the net and had all of this emotion and passion in the way she played,” she added [10:02].

The South African also reminisced the memory of Billie Jean King observing her practice with her father and then asking to join in.

“You know, destiny really. I was hitting on a side court with my dad before the tournament, Billie walked by the court and she said to my dad, ‘I recognize your daughter. She’s been picking up balls and would you mind if I came on the court and hit a few balls with her?’” Ilana Kloss said [10:30].

After their practice session, King approached Kloss's father to praise her as an "amazing talent."

Ilana Kloss said that after the practice session, King had provided her contact information, the name of her coach, and even introduced Kloss to a Wilson representative.

“She walked on the court, she hit with me for 10 minutes. She said to my dad and actually my mom who was there as well, ‘Your daughter has a lot of talent and if she wants to continue to pursue it, here's my address, here's the name of my coach Frank Brennan Sr.’” Kloss added [10:59].

“She introduced me to the Wilson rep and the rest is history. I decided that day that I was going to be a professional tennis player little did I know there wasn’t pro tennis yet for women. So that was the first time I met her,” she said.

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“Our lives intersected because I had a passion to play and I wanted to be a pro” - Billie Jean King's wife Ilana Kloss

Billie Jean King with her wife Ilana Kloss at Wimbledon 2019 [Source: Getty]

In the aforementioned podcast, Ilana Kloss shared that the second time she met Billie Jean King was again in her home country, South Africa. She said she next met King at the Wimbledon Championships in 1972.

“The second time was when she came back to South Africa. But when I went to Wimbledon in 1972, played in the junior event, I bumped into Billie Jean again. In those days as a junior they wouldn’t let you practice anywhere near Wimbledon,” Kloss said [11:30].

Kloss mentioned that King generously offered to practice with her ahead of her junior Wimbledon final against Glynis Coles in 1972.

“So I walked past the court and Billie Jean King said to me, ‘Why don’t you come and warm up with us?’ And you know Billie Jean won the match against Evonne Goolagong at the time and I won the junior event against Glynis Coles,” she added [11:47].

Ilana Kloss attributed her passion for tennis and desire to turn professional as the driving forces behind her meeting with King.

“So our lives have intersected obviously since I was 10 years old but it was just because I had a passion to play and I wanted to be a pro,” Ilana Kloss said [12:27].

Billie Jean King finished her career with an impressive 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. On the other hand, Ilana Kloss won two Grand Slam titles in her career: the 1976 US Open women's doubles with Linky Boshoff and the 1976 French Open mixed doubles with Kim Warwick.