By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Retired tennis great Billie Jean King believes women’s sports are at another “tipping point,” as the U.S. Open celebrates 50 years of equal prize money with the Grand Slam’s grand dame taking centre stage in New York.
The American trailblazer was a driving force behind the tournament’s move to equalise prize money for men’s and women’s competitors. When she won her third U.S. Open title in 1972 she earned $10,000, compared with $25,000 for the men’s winner.
“I’m thinking, ‘God, I only got 10 and he got, you know, (Ilie Nastase) got 15’,” she told reporters on Thursday, recalling a news conference she participated in at the time. “So I said to everyone and I was just feeling this… I said, ‘This really stinks. I don’t think the girls will be back’.”
She says now that she had not spoken with her cohorts before drawing that line in the sand – though it scarcely mattered. The next year the U.S. Open became the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to men and women.
The Australian Open took another 28 years to do the same. Roland Garros equalised prize money across the board in 2007, after offering equal paydays to champions only in 2006, and Wimbledon evened up their men’s and women’s purse in 2007.
Already a reliable fixture at the year’s final major, King’s face will be near-ubiquitous when fans arrive for the start of the main draw on Monday, as organisers named the anniversary as the “central theme” for the tournament.
Artwork celebrating the milestone adorned buildings and saturated the offerings at a gift shop in the tennis centre named for King on Thursday.
“I don’t ever usually look at myself,” King said. “But this one, I may have to.”
The celebration coincides with the 50th anniversary of the WTA – which King spearheaded – and what she calls another pivotal moment for women’s sport.
“We’re at the tipping point where people think there’s money in women now,” said King, who in 2020 joined the investment group for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team Angel City FC. “That’s why they’re buying soccer teams. That’s why they’re buying the basketball teams. That’s why they really are investing now. There’s no question.”
King travelled to Australia to watch the Women’s World Cup, which wrapped up this month, and pointed to the record television audiences for the expanded tournament as evidence of progress.
“That’s why people will start investing when they get those kinds of reports,” King said. “The more investment we get, the more chance we have to win.”
The 79-year-old confessed that she had only recently returned to her first love, picking up the racquet again during the pandemic after a two-decade-long hiatus at the encouragement of her wife, Ilana Kloss.
“I’m really crazier than ever because I can feel the ball against the strings,” she said. “I’ve got horrible knees… I mean, I’m a mess, but (to) get out there and hit is great.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
