Billie Jean King

During her playing career Billie Jean King reached the 'Round of 16' countless times, but today that number took on special meaning for the tennis legend. In a ceremony at the White House, the founder of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour and champion of gender equality was among 16 global luminaries to receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom from US President Barack Obama.

Tennis advocacy now comes complete with a big serve — and Hall of Famer Billie Jean King.

The USTA today announced it has unleashed "The Big Serve," an interactive portion of its website designed to help organize and mobilize people to use tennis to affect public policy.

The website — usta.com/thebigserve — will feature a variety of tools for visitors to utilize and will also be used to highlight the opportunities, successes and challenges of generating public support for the growth of the game of tennis.

UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and a partner of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, celebrated International Women's Day 2009 this past Sunday, March 8, by organizing a series of events in collaboration with various partners at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris from March 9 to 25.

A well-intentioned question before Monday night's Madison Square Garden tennis exhibition -- reasonably marveling at the unlikely odds of a traditionally white, historically costly sport being ruled by two black sisters and two products of a war-torn country -- wondered how Serena and Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic might have been shaped by adversity.

Billie Jean King is ready to celebrate the return of women's tennis to Madison Square Garden with the Williams sisters and former President Bill Clinton on Monday night.

The founder of the Women's Tennis Association was still upset about the visa troubles at the Dubai tournament two weeks ago and adamant the tour won't return there next year if the problem recurs. Shahar Peer of Israel was denied a visa to play in Dubai, with the government citing security concerns.

Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and the Williams sisters will face off in a one night only, single elimination event which will also celebrate tennis legend Billie Jean King. The BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup is scheduled for Monday, March 2 at Madison Square Garden and will be telecast live on HBO at 7:30pm.

Described as a "visionary, innovator and champion," multiple tennis grand slam winner Billie Jean King is on her way to South Africa for a three-day stay at the invitation of Emperors Palace.
 
Although the visit is believed to be linked to Emperors Palace's charity initiatives, King will also advise the gaming and entertainment resort adjoining Oliver Tambo International Airport on ways and means of furthering their tennis projects following the successful staging of the Davis Cup tie between South Africa and Denmark this year.
 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the world's leading global sport for women, announced on Thursday the naming of Billie Jean King as Global Mentor for Gender Equality, along with the funding of the Women's Sports Foundation newly created Billie Jean King Leadership Internship program.
 

They always had each other. That is Billie Jean King’s assessment of the collective phenomenon known as the Williams Sisters.
 
They always had each other’s back, except for 16 times, now make it 17, when they had to play each other.
 
Venus Williams and Serena Williams were meeting each other Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the United States Open, far too early in the second week. They had split their first 16 meetings, most of them late in major tournaments.
 

On the surface, they would seem to be the yin-yang couple of women's tennis. Billie Jean King is short and feisty and crackles with an irrepressible energy. When 6-1 Venus Williams is really, really upset, she's liable to frown slightly on the court. But that's it.