King was a champion on and off the tennis court

I HAVE long held the view that to be considered a great sportsperson one needs to be great off the field of play as well. If anyone qualifies for that “great” moniker it is Billie Jean King, one of the stand-out global sporting figures of the modern era.

The winner of 39 tennis Grand Slam titles, King has now told her story in her autobiography, All In, and what a story it is.

King has long campaigned for equality and her “off the field of play” greatness is evidenced by achievements such as being the first female athlete to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, cofounding the Billie King Leadership Initiative and World Team Tennis, the National Tennis Centre, the home of the US Open being renamed the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre, and founding the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973 and the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1974.

Even just these “on and off the field of play” accomplishments would elevate King above many labelled “great”, but there is so much more to her story.

“Early on, what was most apparent to me was that the world I wanted didn’t exist yet. It would be up to my generation to create it.

“We were born on the cusp of the Baby Boom and walked a tightrope between shedding the old and shaping the new. For me, the timing turned out to be a profound blessing – and a burden that nearly broke me by age 50, to a degree that few people know. Sometimes my biggest opponent was me.

“Along the way, people often thought I was angry. They were wrong. More than anything, I was determined. I won my share of fights.’

Those parts of her autobiography that deal with her tennis career are an intimate account of a special time in the professional area, and King tells it in a way that takes the reader close up to the demands of that sporting lifestyle.

But for me, it is the “off the court“King that has shone even brighter. Her fighting for the causes she believes in, and her obstacleridden private life journey are told with much courage and candour and are astonishing and inspirational.

“I am in such a happy place emotionally now. I wish I could have had this well-being when I was in my twenties, my thirties, and my forties. The journey has been so rewarding, even if sometimes a struggle ... if I die right now, I’d really be ticked off because I am not finished.”

All In is a magnificent, fascinating autobiography, superbly written and an absolutely awe-inspiring read. It deals with so many significant and diverse issues, it almost defies belief that they are all part of one single person’s life journey – and she “ain’t done yet”.

Game, set and match. Brava, Billie Jean King, brava.