some posts are so stupid, that i cant pass them by. billie jean got her most notoriety from beating an old man ? that is just about the dumbest comment i have seen in a long time. why in the heck do you suppose that she was playing him, in the first place ?

she won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. this is where her notoriety comes from - geesh !!!

she and margaret court ruled tennis for quite awhile. chris evert was not as good, that is for sure. she had no net game.

you cant really compare different people from different eras. i read another stupid comment in the laver thread, about the players of that era not being as good as the ones of today.

the major change in any sport is not the ability of the athletes. we have been around for many millions of years. our athletic ability does not change in a generation. what does change is the equipment. that is really true in the game of tennis.

most people making reviews have never played with a wooden racket. you simply cant compare that with todays rackets. there is so much difference that the best high school players of today could beat the best pros from the 60s if the high schooler got to play with a racket from today, and the pro had to play with a wooden racket.

a wooden racket could not generate anywhere near the pace, and would have a hard time dealing with a ball going as fast as today. you had to hit in the exact center of a wooden racket, or you would get an off-hit ball. the complete racket face of today is a sweet spot.

as i said, there simply is no comparison at all. you always have to look at players in the same time frame. margaret court is the only player in the same league as billie jean, for that time. margaret had a lot more size. billie jean was better, mentally.

Donald Trump, and Rosie O'Donnell are todays version of Billie Jean King, and Bobby Riggs!

She was a good player, but very much overrated in the scheme of things. She was nowhere near the level of Martina, Graf, or even Evert. As someone else posted, her greatest noteriety came from beating an old man. I might add that she needed doubles rules to do that; while the 55 year old Riggs played by singles rules. Way overrated.

Another Lezbo.

That backhand volley was a wonder to watch. And yes, I was impressed with the win over Riggs despite the age difference. Riggs had already beaten Court.

NOT BAT FOR A GIRL!!! ITS ONLY A JOKE...

A great competitor who made Margaret Court a better player. King was also from all accounts very nice to players on the up in the early 70s as Evonne Goolagong writes in her biography. King made the semi finals at Wimbledon at 38 and then again at 39 ! The most interesting American player of the last century and a perfect foil to the mundane icyness of Evert. A true champion in teh Navratilova mould.

Billie Jean had courage while Chris wimped out. Character counts!

Intimidating, shrewd, cagey player who lacked power yet was a strategically sound and athletic superior. Her activism and what she gave back to the game will be always be remembered. Magnificent for the sport PR-wise. On her best days, played perfectly thoughtful, finesse style tennis. On a sour note, played with a bit too much gamesmanship against some opponents, trying to psyche other players out both before and during matches (verbally and through body language), however overall a great champion.

Bobby Riggs was STILL better.

I think Billie Jean is overrated She was a good player and did a lot for women's tennis especially with regard to getting prize money comparable to the men. However, that seems to always way in her favor when rating all time greats I always considered Margaret Court better as a player.

In 1973, she was 29 years old and beat Bobby Riggs, who was 55...and expected us to think she was a big hero, just because she beat a man! Would she have been as impressed if a 29 year old man beat a 55 year old woman? As we like to say here in the south, I was born at night, but it wasn't LAST night.