NEW YORK — Life on the professional tennis tour can be challenging. Billie Jean King knows a thing or two about that — and she’s happy to share.
Two days before the start of singles competition the U.S. Open, King sat around a table in Arthur Ashe Stadium with 16 up-and-coming female players. Steps away from the tournament’s biggest court, the group shared stories, raised questions and listened to King’s advice.
It’s an annual meeting, organized by the WTA, called the Billie Jean King Power Hour, and it’s been a behind-the-scenes staple in New York for 28 years for the trailblazer who secured equal pay for women at the U.S. Open in 1973.
“My job is to pay attention and try to figure out: What do they need? What do they want? What’s going to help them and their lives — for their lives, not just tennis,” King said in an interview Wednesday.
Each year, she talks with a fresh batch of players; last week, she was joined by WTA veterans Ilana Kloss, Leslie Allen and Shelby Rogers.
King throws in a little bit of history, a thorough explainer on the WTA’s health services — “We want them to use them; we want them to go every day,” she said — and a call to continue growing the game.
“She told us now it’s (on) our generation to follow and do even better,” said Moyuka Uchijima of Japan, one of the players who listened to King last Friday. “It was great to know all the history. I just really appreciate what she’s done for us.”
Loïs Boisson, a surprise French Open semifinalist in June, also was at this year’s U.S. Open meeting with King.
“I learned a lot of things, for sure,” Boisson said. “She just fights for what she believes and fights for equality. She did a lot for tennis.”
King hopes these sessions can continue the cycle of knowledge that she benefited from during her own career.
“I have such a love of history, and I met all the past champions, and they gave me (a lot),” she said. “Because when you listen and they tell their story to you, I gain so much.”
American star Margaret duPont, for example, who won 37 major titles throughout the 1940s and 50s, taught King patience — and to hold the racket in your left hand during breaks between points so your right arm can rest.
Alice Marble, an American player who won 18 major titles in the 1930s, spent two months meeting with King on weekends to work on her tennis.
King recalls every detail.
“Tennis has been so great to me,” King said. “I love tennis. I want it to prosper for every generation.”
