Evert vs King

[BTURNER]

Here is the head to head
1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-7, 6-3, ret.
1971 U.S. Open SF grass L 6-3, 6-2
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W clay 6-1, 6-0
1972 Dallas, TX QF indoor L 6-7, 6-3, 7-5 Edit 7-5-25 misidentified as hard court. It was on carpet.
1972 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-2, 6-3
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF clay W 6-4, 6-2
1973 Wimbledon F grass L 6-0, 7-5
1973 Hilton Head, SC RR Hard W 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
1974 San Francisco, CA F indoors L 7-6, 6-2
1974 Mission Viejo, CA F hard W 6-3, 6-1
1974 New York, NY F indoors L 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1975 San Francisco, CA indoors F W 6-1, 6-1
1975 Sarasota, FL F indoors L 6-2, 6-3
1975 Austin, TX F hard W 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
1975 Wimbledon SFgrass L 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1977 Hilton Head, SC F clay W 6-0, 6-1
1977 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-1, 6-2
1977 U.S. Open QF hard W 6-2, 6-0
1977 Colgate Series finals F hard W 6-2, 6-2
1978 Boston, MA SF indoors W 6-3, 6-2
1978 Philadelphia, PA F indoors W 6-0, 6-4
1978 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1979 U.S. Open SF hard W 6-1, 6-0
1982 Wimbledon SF grass W 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
1982 Australian Open QF grass W 6-2, 6-2
1983 Slims Championships SF indoors W 6-1, 6-1

Evert 19- King 7

First note the early years before Evert took the number one spot. Somehow I thought that the US Open of 71 was the first meeting. I never heard about the Fort Lauderdale meeting, a technical win for Evert on Florida clay, after losing the second set, King retires. Anyone know more about this first meeting or why King retired?

In the same event a year later Evert crushed the higher ranked champion. In fact King never was never ahead in the rivalry, never won two matches in a row over the girl in a ponytail.
Through 1974, the rivalry was completely dominated by surface. (Evert won every meeting on clay or hard courts. King won every meeting on grass or carpet) before Chris gained leverage early in '75 winning in San Francisco on carpet.

 

[Willi62]

Here is the head to head
1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-7, 6-3, ret.
1971 U.S. Open SF grass L 6-3, 6-2
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W clay 6-1, 6-0
1972 Dallas, TX QF hard L 6-7, 6-3, 7-5
1972 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-2, 6-3
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF clay W 6-4, 6-2
1973 Wimbledon F grass L 6-0, 7-5
1973 Hilton Head, SC RR clay W 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
1974 San Francisco, CA F indoors L 7-6, 6-2
1974 Mission Viejo, CA F hard W 6-3, 6-1
1974 New York, NY F indoors L 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1975 San Francisco, CA indoors F W 6-1, 6-1
1975 Sarasota, FL F indoors L 6-2, 6-3
1975 Austin, TX F hard W 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
1975 Wimbledon SFgrass L 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1977 Hilton Head, SC F clay W 6-0, 6-1
1977 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-1, 6-2
1977 U.S. Open QF hard W 6-2, 6-0
1977 Colgate Series finals F hard W 6-2, 6-2
1978 Boston, MA SF indoors W 6-3, 6-2
1978 Philadelphia, PA F indoors W 6-0, 6-4
1978 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1979 U.S. Open SF hard W 6-1, 6-0
1982 Wimbledon SF grass W 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
1982 Australian Open QF grass W 6-2, 6-2
1983 Slims Championships SF indoors W 6-1, 6-1

Evert 19- King 7

First note the early years before Evert took the number one spot. Somehow I thought that the US Open of 71 was the first meeting. I never heard about the Fort Lauderdale meeting, a technical win for Evert on Florida clay, after losing the second set, King retires. Anyone know more about this first meeting or why King retired?

In the same event a year later Evert crushed the higher ranked champion. In fact King never was never ahead in the rivalry, never won two matches in a row over the girl in a ponytail.
Through 1974, the rivalry was completely dominated by surface. (Evert won every meeting on clay or hard courts. King won every meeting on grass or carpet) before Chris gained leverage early in '75 winning in San Francisco on carpet.

It is interesting that 23 of those 26 matches were played on US soil indicating that women's professional tennis was an almost exclusively American affair back then.

 

[kiki]

Two notes:

King´s last victory was in her truly last great season, 75...and they still faced each other for 8 more years¡¡¡

It is uncredible that BJK at ..40¡¡¡ was still playing the semis of the Women´s Masters ( the VS Finals) which was probably the fourth biggest tournament of the year or, at worst, the fifth biggest ( Don´t remember if the AO had tough or weak fields in 83).

While people talks about Rosewall,Gonzo,Tilden and Connors longevity and those 4 guys deserve all the glory for that...but BJK may top that as well..I still remember the great way she played the 82 Wimbledon semis, at 39...and almost beat Evert¡¡¡

 

[suwanee4712]

BJK always publicly embraced Evert, even when others did not, as the future of womens tennis. She knew that Chris would help attract money into pro tennis.

But I wonder if privately she felt similarly towards a young Chris as Chris felt towards Tracy. The mental prowess of BJK was unmatched until Chris showed up. Eventually BJK couldn't intimidate her.

Chris says they were not close personally until after BJK's first retirement, and I don't think that she was happy when King took up serious singles again.

 

[kiki]

Well, Chris Evert with her clean looks and ponnytail and Evonne Goolagong with her charm and exotic looks were really the future of tennis by 1971 or 1972.They were extremely marketeable and had great media power; and both were genuine 70´s products.

But Court and King were still the main flags; King´s contribution to popularize the game and turn many young talented athletes into professionalism is very important...and she was not alone there (Casals,Richey,Heldman).tennis was , along golf, the sport that the feminist embraced as their own, there is no doubt about it.Look at Renée Richards.

 

[BTURNER]

It is interesting that 23 of those 26 matches were played on US soil indicating that women's professional tennis was an almost exclusively American affair back then.

LOL more to the point, it means that King hated/ despised/ loathed the red clay in Europe and neither of them went Down Under often

 

[BTURNER]

BJK always publicly embraced Evert, even when others did not, as the future of womens tennis. She knew that Chris would help attract money into pro tennis.

But I wonder if privately she felt similarly towards a young Chris as Chris felt towards Tracy. The mental prowess of BJK was unmatched until Chris showed up. Eventually BJK couldn't intimidate her.

Chris says they were not close personally until after BJK's first retirement, and I don't think that she was happy when King took up serious singles again.

suwanee, My point is the record really shows King never did intimidate her beyond centre court where everyone was intimidated by King. 16 year old Evert's sitting in a tiebreak in the very first set she ever played King and won the second! She did not quake in her sneakers any longer than she did vs Court a year earlier! Its about court speed from meeting number 1. It does show that King played a lot of American green clay events, even as she dodged the red stuff.

 

[CEvertFan]

Two notes:

King´s last victory was in her truly last great season, 75...and they still faced each other for 8 more years¡¡¡

It is uncredible that BJK at ..40¡¡¡ was still playing the semis of the Women´s Masters ( the VS Finals) which was probably the fourth biggest tournament of the year or, at worst, the fifth biggest ( Don´t remember if the AO had tough or weak fields in 83).

While people talks about Rosewall,Gonzo,Tilden and Connors longevity and those 4 guys deserve all the glory for that...but BJK may top that as well..I still remember the great way she played the 82 Wimbledon semis, at 39...and almost beat Evert¡¡¡

That 1982 Wimbledon semifinal is one of my all time favorite classic matches to watch. Both women played superbly and you could visibly see that BJK was driving Evert nuts with her tactics for most of that match.

King always played her best by far at Wimbledon - just being there energized and inspired her far more than anywhere else.

Overall though Evert was just a better player than King - Billie Jean couldn't overpower Evert (like Navratilova sometimes could) and Chrissie's passing shots/lobs were just too good. I always thought that even though Evert got physically stronger and switched racquets in the 80s, in the 70s when she was still playing with the wood she had exquisite touch and control - the switch to graphite took away just a bit of that touch and control.

 

[suwanee4712]

That 1982 Wimbledon semifinal is one of my all time favorite classic matches to watch. Both women played superbly and you could visibly see that BJK was driving Evert nuts with her tactics for most of that match.

King always played her best by far at Wimbledon - just being there energized and inspired her far more than anywhere else.

Overall though Evert was just a better player than King - Billie Jean couldn't overpower Evert (like Navratilova sometimes could) and Chrissie's passing shots/lobs were just too good. I always thought that even though Evert got physically stronger and switched racquets in the 80s, in the 70s when she was still playing with the wood she had exquisite touch and control - the switch to graphite took away just a bit of that touch and control.

That match is one of my all time favorites!

 

[suwanee4712]

suwanee, My point is the record really shows King never did intimidate her beyond centre court where everyone was intimidated by King. 16 year old Evert's sitting in a tiebreak in the very first set she ever played King and won the second! She did not quake in her sneakers any longer than she did vs Court a year earlier! Its about court speed from meeting number 1. It does show that King played a lot of American green clay events, even as she dodged the red stuff.

Spot on as usual. I always love reading your thoughts and assessments.

I guess after she won Rome and Paris, BJK didn't feel the need to keep subjecting herself to the red stuff. It's a shame. But I am sure it was a calculated break in the schedule for her, an omission of convenience.

 

[BTURNER]

That 1982 Wimbledon semifinal is one of my all time favorite classic matches to watch. Both women played superbly and you could visibly see that BJK was driving Evert nuts with her tactics for most of that match.

King always played her best by far at Wimbledon - just being there energized and inspired her far more than anywhere else.

Overall though Evert was just a better player than King - Billie Jean couldn't overpower Evert (like Navratilova sometimes could) and Chrissie's passing shots/lobs were just too good. I always thought that even though Evert got physically stronger and switched racquets in the 80s, in the 70s when she was still playing with the wood she had exquisite touch and control - the switch to graphite took away just a bit of that touch and control.

LOL, yeah if you watched Evert's face , it looked like she might be feeling a headache coming on. She was frustrated and she knew how dangerous that ol' lady was becoming. Chris was smart though, and did some self correcting of her tactics and strokes in the nick of time. Compare it to the round before, King used the same game plan but Austin looked as though she had no idea why her shots weren't going in. Tracy kept rushing play and hitting out anyway. Austin had no experience with this kind of game on a grass court. She also did not have use an offensive lob enough.

 

[kiki]

Evonne did also beat Austin using, more or less, the same tactics in 1980.

Pam Shriver had a big win over Tracy in 1981, me thinks; her first win over Austin who was her owner for years.

Considering she never liked grass and moved there pretty badly, Tracy had pretty good results there, with two semis and two quarters; and not a shameful loss in the whole.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Here is the head to head
1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-7, 6-3, ret.
1971 U.S. Open SF grass L 6-3, 6-2
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W clay 6-1, 6-0
1972 Dallas, TX QF hard L 6-7, 6-3, 7-5
1972 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-2, 6-3
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF clay W 6-4, 6-2
1973 Wimbledon F grass L 6-0, 7-5
1973 Hilton Head, SC RR clay W 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
1974 San Francisco, CA F indoors L 7-6, 6-2
1974 Mission Viejo, CA F hard W 6-3, 6-1
1974 New York, NY F indoors L 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1975 San Francisco, CA indoors F W 6-1, 6-1
1975 Sarasota, FL F indoors L 6-2, 6-3
1975 Austin, TX F hard W 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
1975 Wimbledon SFgrass L 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1977 Hilton Head, SC F clay W 6-0, 6-1
1977 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-1, 6-2
1977 U.S. Open QF hard W 6-2, 6-0
1977 Colgate Series finals F hard W 6-2, 6-2
1978 Boston, MA SF indoors W 6-3, 6-2
1978 Philadelphia, PA F indoors W 6-0, 6-4
1978 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1979 U.S. Open SF hard W 6-1, 6-0
1982 Wimbledon SF grass W 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
1982 Australian Open QF grass W 6-2, 6-2
1983 Slims Championships SF indoors W 6-1, 6-1

Evert 19- King 7

First note the early years before Evert took the number one spot. Somehow I thought that the US Open of 71 was the first meeting. I never heard about the Fort Lauderdale meeting, a technical win for Evert on Florida clay, after losing the second set, King retires. Anyone know more about this first meeting or why King retired?

In the same event a year later Evert crushed the higher ranked champion. In fact King never was never ahead in the rivalry, never won two matches in a row over the girl in a ponytail.
Through 1974, the rivalry was completely dominated by surface. (Evert won every meeting on clay or hard courts. King won every meeting on grass or carpet) before Chris gained leverage early in '75 winning in San Francisco on carpet.

The 1971 match where Billie Jean defaulted after they split sets was due to Billie Jean cramping due to the after affects of her abortion. She played too soon after the procedure. Billie Jean went back to the locker room and was actually vomiting in the sink. Chrissie, who always liked Billie, was the only one to go over and ask her if she was OK and if she could do anything to help her. Chrissie had such class.

 

[BTURNER]

The 1971 match where Billie Jean defaulted after they split sets was due to Billie Jean cramping due to the after affects of her abortion. She played too soon after the procedure. Billie Jean went back to the locker room and was actually vomiting in the sink. Chrissie, who always liked Billie, was the only one to go over and ask her if she was OK and if she could do anything to help her. Chrissie had such class.

It felt like such an odd inexpliciable score. I had always wondered about it. Thanks for filling in the blanks.

 

[jrepac]

LOL, yeah if you watched Evert's face , it looked like she might be feeling a headache coming on. She was frustrated and she knew how dangerous that ol' lady was becoming. Chris was smart though, and did some self correcting of her tactics and strokes in the nick of time. Compare it to the round before, King used the same game plan but Austin looked as though she had no idea why her shots weren't going in. Tracy kept rushing play and hitting out anyway. Austin had no experience with this kind of game on a grass court. She also did not have use an offensive lob enough.

Chris had a few more tools in her kit to combat BJK (compared to Tracy) on grass

 

[Verbal Volley]

LOL more to the point, it means that King hated/ despised/ loathed the red clay in Europe and neither of them went Down Under often

Billie Jean is actually quoted as saying that she preferred red clay to the USA Har-Tru green clay, which she said was her worst surface. Also, don't forget that she was not allowed to play the red clay circuit by the US(L)TA until 1967, after she was #1 in the world. She then missed five years from 1974-1978 because of World Team Tennis. She played on the red clay in 1980 and 1982. She couldn't play in 1979 because she was recovering from her seventh knee operation and played her first tournament of the year in mid-June at Chichester, where she beat the then #1 Martina Navratilova in the semi-finals by 6/1,6/2, before losing to Evonne Goolagong in the final by 1/6,6/4/10/8. She didn't play in 1981 due to the Marilyn Barnett fiasco.

 

[BTURNER]

Billie Jean is actually quoted as saying that she preferred red clay to the USA Har-Tru green clay, which she said was her worst surface. Also, don't forget that she was not allowed to play the red clay circuit by the US(L)TA until 1967, after she was #1 in the world. She then missed five years from 1974-1978 because of World Team Tennis. She played on the red clay in 1980 and 1982. She couldn't play in 1979 because she was recovering from her seventh knee operation and played her first tournament of the year in mid-June at Chichester, where she beat the then #1 Martina Navratilova in the semi-finals by 6/1,6/2, before losing to Evonne Goolagong in the final by 1/6,6/4/10/8. She didn't play in 1981 due to the Marilyn Barnett fiasco.

I had never heard of this. Why did they care?

 

[Verbal Volley]

I had never heard of this. Why did they care?

The tennis association OWNED the players back then, and told them where they could play at the time. Billie Jean was assigned to the simultaneously played grass court circuit until she became #1 in the world in 1967, while the US(L)TA naturally gave the red clay circuit to the #1 clay court player in the USA, Nancy Richey. That all changed with Open Tennis, when the players gained more autonomy.

 

[BTURNER]

The tennis association OWNED the players back then, and told them where they could play at the time. Billie Jean was assigned to the simultaneously played grass court circuit until she became #1 in the world in 1967, while the US(L)TA naturally gave the red clay circuit to the #1 clay court player in the USA, Nancy Richey. That all changed with Open Tennis, when the players gained more autonomy.

Can you provide a link or source for this?

 

[PDJ]

Evonne did also beat Austin using, more or less, the same tactics in 1980.

Pam Shriver had a big win over Tracy in 1981, me thinks; her first win over Austin who was her owner for years.

Considering she never liked grass and moved there pretty badly, Tracy had pretty good results there, with two semis and two quarters; and not a shameful loss in the whole.

And a Mixed Doubles title.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Here is the head to head
1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-7, 6-3, ret.
1971 U.S. Open SF grass L 6-3, 6-2
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W clay 6-1, 6-0
1972 Dallas, TX QF hard L 6-7, 6-3, 7-5
1972 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-2, 6-3
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF clay W 6-4, 6-2
1973 Wimbledon F grass L 6-0, 7-5
1973 Hilton Head, SC RR clay W 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
1974 San Francisco, CA F indoors L 7-6, 6-2
1974 Mission Viejo, CA F hard W 6-3, 6-1
1974 New York, NY F indoors L 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1975 San Francisco, CA indoors F W 6-1, 6-1
1975 Sarasota, FL F indoors L 6-2, 6-3
1975 Austin, TX F hard W 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
1975 Wimbledon SFgrass L 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1977 Hilton Head, SC F clay W 6-0, 6-1
1977 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-1, 6-2
1977 U.S. Open QF hard W 6-2, 6-0
1977 Colgate Series finals F hard W 6-2, 6-2
1978 Boston, MA SF indoors W 6-3, 6-2
1978 Philadelphia, PA F indoors W 6-0, 6-4
1978 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1979 U.S. Open SF hard W 6-1, 6-0
1982 Wimbledon SF grass W 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
1982 Australian Open QF grass W 6-2, 6-2
1983 Slims Championships SF indoors W 6-1, 6-1

Evert 19- King 7

First note the early years before Evert took the number one spot. Somehow I thought that the US Open of 71 was the first meeting. I never heard about the Fort Lauderdale meeting, a technical win for Evert on Florida clay, after losing the second set, King retires. Anyone know more about this first meeting or why King retired?

In the same event a year later Evert crushed the higher ranked champion. In fact King never was never ahead in the rivalry, never won two matches in a row over the girl in a ponytail.
Through 1974, the rivalry was completely dominated by surface. (Evert won every meeting on clay or hard courts. King won every meeting on grass or carpet) before Chris gained leverage early in '75 winning in San Francisco on carpet.

I think that I can answer most of your questions, because BJK was my favorite player, even though I never saw her play in her prime. In the first 4 matches I ever watched of tennis, she was a part of each one. She "turned me on" to the sport. In regard to their first meeting, which was on clay in 1970, Billie and Chrissie split sets before Billie had to default. She was forced to play the event by organizers, who were afraid that ticket sales would plummet if she did not participate in the tournament. This was about a week after she had an abortion, and the heat, cramping and dehydration led to her having to default. It is a testament to how much they liked each other that, after the default, while Billie Jean was extremely sick and dehydrated and was vomiting in the sink in the locker room. Chrissie was the only one to go over and ask her if she was okay, and if she she could do anything to help her. They always had such tremendous respect for each other, which continues to this day. Chrissie had such class.

Billie Jean was the only player who could initially play Chrissie evenly. In their first 15 matches, from 1970-1975, when Billie temporarily retired after winning her sixth Wimbledon singles crown after defeating Chrissie in the process in a superb semi-final match (that I have a DVD of), Chrissie only led in their rivalry by the slimmest of margins by 8-7. No one else was close in head to head matches. They then only played each other three times in 1976 in Team Tennis matches, with Billie Jean winning two of those sets.

She had a double knee operation towards the end of 1976, and that operation severely debilitated both her ability and agility. It made her a step slow, and that is a no-no against Chrissie. Consequently, she was never able to beat Chrissie again. The fact that she had a total of eight knee operations (as well as ankle and foot surgery) didn't help matters either.

Chrissie beat Billie Jean on the fast indoor carpet (San Francisco) in 1975 by 6/1,6/1. Billie Jean, who was planning on retiring after that tournament, extended her career for one week because she didn't want to retire after such a blow-out. Billie Jean beat Chrissie in their next meeting the following week by the score of 6/2,6/3 (Florida), and Chrissie said that it was the best match Billie Jean had ever played against her. She then retired temporarily from the tour.

They were really never "RIVALS" (like Chrissie vs. Martina, Evonne, etc..) because Billie was 12 years older than Chrissie. But kudos to Billie Jean for keeping their head to head close until she couldn't play her best any longer.

 

[insideoutforehanders]

Wasn't it later confirmed by BJK herself she never would have returned to full time tour tennis after the big knee operations, if it had not been for the Barnett lawsuit? She was worried the negativity of that, she would lose all endorsements if she were a retired player, so had to return to play and do well to mantain any endorsements at all.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

Yes but that was 1981 BJK. A full five years after her 1976 fall comeback. She played until Wimbledon 1978 fairly frequently, but left the tour in 1978 in July (not counting WTT). Then there was another comeback spring 1979. Off after Wimbledon ‘80. The sporadically back in 1981, pre-Barnett (again not counting the new + terrible 1981 WTT). She played no slams in 1981 pre/post Barnett, but was back almost full time for both 1982 and 1983. Finally retiring (save for that Slims of Capriati doubles hit + giggle in 1990 as a tubby gal) in Fall 1983 at age 39. She is a tough old broad!

Basically she had too many ‘comebacks’ to count, but I think I covered it.

 

[insideoutforehanders]

One thing that makes me laugh is when Martina fans "mock" Graf for Graf supposably doing poorly vs old Martina. The Martina she lost to a grand total of TWO times in 7 years during Martina's post prime and Steffi's prime period of 88-94. And who Martina went on a 4 year winless period until finally beating her again at the 91 US Open during Graf's poorest year of tennis by far the whole 86-96 period, even the 86-99 period minus 97 which count with all her injuries. Yet 21 year old Martina lost her first 3 matches to a now 33/34 year old King, and even losing sometimes to a now 37 year old King years later. And Evert was still losing to now 31 year old King often on carpet/grass until King returned a shadow of even her old self after the knee operations, although I still give Evert for owning even that King which nobody else could, including certainly not Martina as I just covered. Court took a bunch of losses to baby Evert, but then Evert herself preceded to lose 4 of 5 matches to 31 year old Court in 73, so that can reflect badly on either, depending how you look on it, and worse than anything about Graf's performances vs Navratilova which Navratilova fans trumpet as if it they just found the Oracle. I am not even a Graf fan but one reason I lean towards her slightly in the GOAT debates is she seems to be the one people target in their criticisms most, with increasing lameness and desperation, such as mocking her so called terrible record vs old Martina which is comical in context. If Serena, Martina, Court, or whoever was the GOAT why aren't they the one all other great fan bases target the most, it is always Graf, there must be a reason for that.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

Yeah the Old Martina schtick is a joke. She was still ranked #2 in the world until Seles knocked her down a notch in fall 1990. And Martina’s 34 year old self was winning Wimbledon that year and head and shoulders above where 34 year old King was in 1978. Martina didn’t have her first surgery until that fall ‘90 and unlike King, she really was back to her old self again. She beat 17 year old #1 Monica twice that year and got her first win over Steffi, after 4 long years, at the USO. She maintained that level for about two additional years until Father Time came calling. Olde Billie was able to man handle young Martina + especially post pregnancy Evonne at times with ease. But Olde BJK was not making slam finals nor winning them and her only big win after that final victory over #1 Martina in Feb 1980, was a win over lame Tracy at the 1982 Wimbledon quarters. That was it. Old Martina was beating and competing with #1 Monica in 1993. She was also a real threat to win every tournament she played until the end of that year. No one ever gave BJK a real chance at winning anything big after 1980 Wimbledon.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Wasn't it later confirmed by BJK herself she never would have returned to full time tour tennis after the big knee operations, if it had not been for the Barnett lawsuit? She was worried the negativity of that, she would lose all endorsements if she were a retired player, so had to return to play and do well to mantain any endorsements at all.

Yes, absolutely. Billie Jean played well past her prime in order to pay off her legal bills, thanks to Marilyn Barnett's attempted extortion.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Yeah the Old Martina schtick is a joke. She was still ranked #2 in the world until Seles knocked her down a notch in fall 1990. And Martina’s 34 year old self was winning Wimbledon that year and head and shoulders above where 34 year old King was in 1978. Martina didn’t have her first surgery until that fall ‘90 and unlike King, she really was back to her old self again. She beat 17 year old #1 Monica twice that year and got her first win over Steffi, after 4 long years, at the USO. She maintained that level for about two additional years until Father Time came calling. Olde Billie was able to man handle young Martina + especially post pregnancy Evonne at times with ease. But Olde BJK was not making slam finals nor winning them and her only big win after that final victory over #1 Martina in Feb 1980, was a win over lame Tracy at the 1982 Wimbledon quarters. That was it. Old Martina was beating and competing with #1 Monica in 1993. She was also a real threat to win every tournament she played until the end of that year. No one ever gave BJK a real chance at winning anything big after 1980 Wimbledon.

That is because she was zero for two in knees, and was only playing to pay off legal bills due to Marilyn Barnett's attempted extortion. She lost all of er endorsements overnight due to Barnett's cruelty. There was no cash flow coming in whatsoever. Amazing how she has now re-established herself as an icon, and is worth more than $20,000,000.00.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Wasn't it later confirmed by BJK herself she never would have returned to full time tour tennis after the big knee operations, if it had not been for the Barnett lawsuit? She was worried the negativity of that, she would lose all endorsements if she were a retired player, so had to return to play and do well to mantain any endorsements at all.

She did lose all of her endorsements, making her play on the circuit necessary, since she was so close to retirement and had no income stream.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Yes but that was 1981 BJK. A full five years after her 1976 fall comeback. She played until Wimbledon 1978 fairly frequently, but left the tour in 1978 in July (not counting WTT). Then there was another comeback spring 1979. Off after Wimbledon ‘80. The sporadically back in 1981, pre-Barnett (again not counting the new + terrible 1981 WTT). She played no slams in 1981 pre/post Barnett, but was back almost full time for both 1982 and 1983. Finally retiring (save for that Slims of Capriati doubles hit + giggle in 1990 as a tubby gal) in Fall 1983 at age 39. She is a tough old broad!

Basically she had too many ‘comebacks’ to count, but I think I covered it.

She played very little in 1981, due to how she felt the public would react to her. In one event, she even wore contacts and wore her hair in a braid. In 1978, she played very little tennis after the first half of the year because of damage to her ankle. The doctor ended up removing a growth the size of a golf ball from her ankle and said that she never should have played at all in 1978. She rehabilitated and returned to tournament play in mid 1979, playing only one doubles match (Federation Cup) in the first six months of the year. In her first singles tournament back she defeated Martina (then #1 in the world) in the SF of Chichester 6/1,6/2 in the semis, before falling to Evonne 1/6,6/4,10/8 in the championship match. She then entered Eastbourne, but had to default in the third round at 4/4 to Kerry Melville Reid due to a groin injury. These were her only tournaments played to prepare for Wimbledon. She played gallantly but lost to Tracy 6/4,6/7,6/2. She was ahead 2/0 in the final set, but simply ran out of gas. She finished both 1982 and 1983 as #9 in the world, even though she should not have even played in those years. She won matches on sheer guts alone to reach the Wimbledon semis in both 1982 and 1983. In 1983 she actually also reached the semis of the YEC Championships, defeating Jaeger by 5/7,6/2,6/2 in the semis, a match she had no business winning. She was "Houdini" when it came to beating younger, more fit opponents.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

I remember thinking the victory over Andrea was her last big win, but in retrospect a win over Andrea post 1982 was questionable. I think BJK said Andrea played half heartedly and didn’t run for many balls, due to injury and, well, being Andrea at that stage. It was amazing she made the 1982 + 1983 Wimbledon semifinals, but that last win over Martina in 1980 was her last truly surprising upset.

I saw her play in 1981 in the not so exciting reboot of World Team Tennis Gen Deux. She was wearing glasses and no ponytail. She got a very, very warm reception and honestly she was the only celebrity player in the match. I mean, Sharon Walsh and Anne Kiyomara were not the ones selling the tickets. But that was in the Bay Area. Perhaps audiences were less sophisticated and less friendly elsewhere, but by her 1982 return it seemed like she was a much needed addition to the tour with Tracy out, Evonne post pregnancy #2, Hana flailing in winter/spring and Chrissie no where to be found until the clay season.

 

[jrepac]

Yeah the Old Martina schtick is a joke. She was still ranked #2 in the world until Seles knocked her down a notch in fall 1990. And Martina’s 34 year old self was winning Wimbledon that year and head and shoulders above where 34 year old King was in 1978. Martina didn’t have her first surgery until that fall ‘90 and unlike King, she really was back to her old self again. She beat 17 year old #1 Monica twice that year and got her first win over Steffi, after 4 long years, at the USO. She maintained that level for about two additional years until Father Time came calling. Olde Billie was able to man handle young Martina + especially post pregnancy Evonne at times with ease. But Olde BJK was not making slam finals nor winning them and her only big win after that final victory over #1 Martina in Feb 1980, was a win over lame Tracy at the 1982 Wimbledon quarters. That was it. Old Martina was beating and competing with #1 Monica in 1993. She was also a real threat to win every tournament she played until the end of that year. No one ever gave BJK a real chance at winning anything big after 1980 Wimbledon.

So what are we saying here? Martina was in fact old and highly ranked so it doesn't count? 34 is not young. Evert as well winning slams at 32, in a final at 34. The old vs. young thing is tricky, since "old" greats can often tap into that talent sporadically at later stages. While I don't necessarily see Graf as superior to MN, it's not because "Old" MN was winning a few.

 

[PDJ]

This article gives you a sense of the sponsorship deals not only lost, but also the vitriol:

In the first two months after the suit was filed, King lost at least $500,000 in endorsements. Later, TV commercials featuring her were shelved and Wimbledon pulled out of a deal to make a Billie Jean King range of clothing. She lost a $300,000 contract with Murjani Jeans and a $90,000 Japanese fashion deal.
And then there was a $45,000 contract with Charleston Hosiery, “whose chief executive called me a ‘****’ in a letter when he fired me,” King writes.

How Billie Jean King was outed by her secret lover, then shunned by the world

Tennis star Billie Jean King reveals how she was outed by her secret lover and shunned by the world, in her new autobiography.

nypost.com

BJK did have some support from players, most notably Chris Evert:

And who are we to knock it if someone is gay? I think every man or woman has the right to choose how to live his or her own life. We're in no position to judge right and wrong in someone else's private life. ... I just hope that emotionally Billie Jean comes out all right. I hope this incident doesn't change her attitude toward life or love or anything. Her enthusiasm and her courage. I would hate to see her lose any of that because that would be an even bigger injustice than the invasion of her privacy.

When Chris Evert Stood Up for Billie Jean King, and Players' Right to Be Gay

In Defense of Billie Jean by Chris Evert Speaking of Billie Jean King's outing , my brother pointed me to this opinion piece Chris ...

www.kennethinthe212.com

 

[Verbal Volley]

So what are we saying here? Martina was in fact old and highly ranked so it doesn't count? 34 is not young. Evert as well winning slams at 32, in a final at 34. The old vs. young thing is tricky, since "old" greats can often tap into that talent sporadically at later stages. While I don't necessarily see Graf as superior to MN, it's not because "Old" MN was winning a few.

Plus let us not forget how much surgical excavation Billie Jean had to undergo in comparison to Martina...eight knee operations, an ankle operation, foot surgery and a brief retirement from singles in 1976 (all of which deducted large amounts of time away from the circuit). She was a much older 34 year old than Martina was in terms of her physical durability.

 

[insideoutforehanders]

This article gives you a sense of the sponsorship deals not only lost, but also the vitriol:

In the first two months after the suit was filed, King lost at least $500,000 in endorsements. Later, TV commercials featuring her were shelved and Wimbledon pulled out of a deal to make a Billie Jean King range of clothing. She lost a $300,000 contract with Murjani Jeans and a $90,000 Japanese fashion deal.
And then there was a $45,000 contract with Charleston Hosiery, “whose chief executive called me a ‘****’ in a letter when he fired me,” King writes.

How Billie Jean King was outed by her secret lover, then shunned by the world

Tennis star Billie Jean King reveals how she was outed by her secret lover and shunned by the world, in her new autobiography.

nypost.com

BJK did have some support from players, most notably Chris Evert:

And who are we to knock it if someone is gay? I think every man or woman has the right to choose how to live his or her own life. We're in no position to judge right and wrong in someone else's private life. ... I just hope that emotionally Billie Jean comes out all right. I hope this incident doesn't change her attitude toward life or love or anything. Her enthusiasm and her courage. I would hate to see her lose any of that because that would be an even bigger injustice than the invasion of her privacy.

When Chris Evert Stood Up for Billie Jean King, and Players' Right to Be Gay

In Defense of Billie Jean by Chris Evert Speaking of Billie Jean King's outing , my brother pointed me to this opinion piece Chris ...

www.kennethinthe212.com

In fairness I don't think the negativity came just from being gay, although sadly that was some of it for sure. It also came from her ex lover painting her in an extremely unfavorable light, making her look out to be some heartless betrayer, who was willing to let her be homeless, and then it looking like King's coldness led to her horrifying accident. Which is completely unfair after more of the truth came out, but it was a bad look. She also probably upset a lot of the LGBT community by it being shown she stayed in the closet that long, while claiming to be an ally. It just was a bad look all around for her, her ex lover had the intent to destroy her and make her look bad, and in many ways succeeded.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

No its the opposite. Maybe re-read my post again? It’s about the Graf naysayers that loudly babble that Steffi barely dealt with an old Martina. Martina didn’t really show her age until her very last year on tour.

She was a very young 34-37 year old who was still beating world #1 Seles in 1993, and finally managed a few wins over Steffi after 4 long years.

Billie was remarkable because she was a very, very old 34-39 year old (see above posts) in terms of her knees/body. Her wins over Martina, Evonne, Virginia, Tracy + Andrea were AMAZING.

It’s a poor argument to say Graf had it easy with an old Martina, post-1986. Martina was in very slight decline, mostly mentally, but she wasn’t truly visibly slower/less powerful until 1994.

 

[BTURNER]

She played very little in 1981, due to how she felt the public would react to her. In one event, she even wore contacts and wore her hair in a braid. In 1978, she played very little tennis after the first half of the year because of damage to her ankle. The doctor ended up removing a growth the size of a golf ball from her ankle and said that she never should have played at all in 1978. She rehabilitated and returned to tournament play in mid 1979, playing only one doubles match (Federation Cup) in the first six months of the year. In her first singles tournament back she defeated Martina (then #1 in the world) in the SF of Chichester 6/1,6/2 in the semis, before falling to Evonne 1/6,6/4,10/8 in the championship match. She then entered Eastbourne, but had to default in the third round at 4/4 to Kerry Melville Reid due to a groin injury. These were her only tournaments played to prepare for Wimbledon. She played gallantly but lost to Tracy 6/4,6/7,6/2. She was ahead 2/0 in the final set, but simply ran out of gas. She finished both 1982 and 1983 as #9 in the world, even though she should not have even played in those years. She won matches on sheer guts alone to reach the Wimbledon semis in both 1982 and 1983. In 1983 she actually also reached the semis of the YEC Championships, defeating Jaeger by 5/7,6/2,6/2 in the semis, a match she had no business winning. She was "Houdini" when it came to beating younger, more fit opponents.

She won on guile, tactical acumen. I have always said, she instinctively knew exactly what shot, spin and placement, would be the most awkward for her opponent during a rally. Her opponent's 'unforced errors' were planned and executed by the best strategist I ever saw. Her problem in later years was in executing the shot pattern that was playing in her mind's eye. Unforced and forced errors at the worst times killed her in so many matches. A lot of that was stamina and mobility driven. She knew where she needed to be, she knew exactly how to hit the ball, but her body just could not do consistently. One could empathize with the overt frustration she felt.

 

[insideoutforehanders]

No its the opposite. Maybe re-read my post again? It’s about the Graf naysayers that loudly babble that Steffi barely dealt with an old Martina. Martina didn’t really show her age until her very last year on tour.

She was a very young 34-37 year old who was still beating world #1 Seles in 1993, and finally managed a few wins over Steffi after 4 long years.

Billie was remarkable because she was a very, very old 34-39 year old (see above posts) in terms of her knees/body. Her wins over Martina, Evonne, Virginia, Tracy + Andrea were AMAZING.

It’s a poor argument to say Graf had it easy with an old Martina, post-1986. Martina was in very slight decline, mostly mentally, but she wasn’t truly visibly slower/less powerful until 1994.

Agreed with all that, and they also flat out exagerrate the success an older Martina had versus Graf, which was not really much at all. Not to take anything away from Martina, who was playing remarkably at that age, remarkably for any age in fact, but she still got only 2 wins over Graf after 87, so to act like an old, past her best Martina was regularly going toe to toe with and often beating Graf as they imply is practially a flat out lie. Yes in fairness that is 2 in only 8 matches, but part of that is she avoided the slower court events where she felt (correctly) she had no chance vs Graf or Seles anyway, and would be in real danger of losing to Sabatini and Sanchez Vicario too, with the odd exception like Rome 90 (where she fought through an impressive win over Gaby, then got utterly hammered by Seles). Plus all the times, even on her favored surfaces she lost before playing Graf, which happened often, while happening in reverse only a couple times ever post 87. So that is a method to belittle Graf is desperate and weak all.

And yes Martina (largely due to much better health) was significantly superior aged 32-onwards to what King was. So if one wants to play that game Martina having that many losses to 33-38 year old King while in her 20s, is far worse than anything showing Graf had with an old Martina, keeping in mind that Martina was much stronger at that age than broken kneed King was able to be.

 

[Verbal Volley]

I had never heard of this. Why did they care?

They felt that Nancy Richey was the better clay court player, and wanted their best to represent the USA on the clay court circuit. But it denied Billie Jean of 8 years to acclimate to the red clay.

 

[pierceforehands]

King wasn't that good a clay courter at all. I don't think she is even a better clay courter than many women who never won the French- Martinez, Stosur, Venus Williams, Sabatini, Hingis. 1 French Open is more than good enough for a clay courter of her calibre. She wasn't nearly as good a clay courter as many others in her era who only won 2 French Opens, or in some cases only 1 like Jones, Richey, Turner.

 

[Verbal Volley]

King wasn't that good a clay courter at all. I don't think she is even a better clay courter than many women who never won the French- Martinez, Stosur, Venus Williams, Sabatini, Hingis. 1 French Open is more than good enough for a clay courter of her calibre. She wasn't nearly as good a clay courter as many others in her era who only won 2 French Opens, or in some cases only 1 like Jones, Richey, Turner.

She actually had a higher winning percentage on clay than Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

 

[insideoutforehanders]

She actually had a higher winning percentage on clay than Arantxa Sanchez Vicario

That just shows how the depth on clay in the 90s was light years beyond the 60s and 70s. On grass the reverse is probably true mind you.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

I tend to judge 1970’s clay court standards by how well players fared against The Gold Standard aka Christine Marie Evert.
Billie Jean won two sets off Chris on clay and nearly beat her at The World Invitational Tennis Classic from Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head, South Carolina in 1973 at age 29. From that point on, I don’t think they ever played on clay other than the 1977 Family Circle Cup which was at the very beginning of Kings first comeback. So King was a very skilled clay courter obviously.
EDIT: CORRECTION The 1973 WITC was actually played on hardcourt, which gives BJK just a single clay set taken from Chris in a tie break when she was a wee 16 year old lass in their very first match.

It’s unfortunate that Evonne was so intimidated by The Olde Lady in Paris in 1972. Evonne was the defending champion and top seed and was raised on clay. She should have won most clay matches against King. Having defended her French might have given her more confidence in the Wimbledon show down with King the following month, against as defending champion and top seed. Did they ever face off on clay ever again?

Evonne on the other hand not only beat Chris on clay twice, but she also handed Chris TWO SIX-LOVE SETS on clay in 1973.
Evonne was also in a winning position against Evert in the wonderful 1975 USO final, primarily playing baseline tennis until she pooped out, as she sometimes sadly did.

In 1982, Evonne was returning from her second childbirth and had not played a match in 5 months since the Australian 1981 season and she still won a set off world #1 Evert at the 1982 Citizen Cup in one of their most exciting matches. Evonne was now 30 and the match lasted over two hours.

Billie Jean was not capable of hanging with Evert from the baseline, not that she would ever even consider trying. But BJK had a ton of success against Nancy Richey, who also bothered Chris more than anyone ever on clay.

Only Nancy, Evonne, The Reverend and wee Tracy could play successful baseline tennis against 70’s era Chris Evert. They were truly great clay counters. The 80’s were different with Hana, Andrea, Manuella and 1984 + onwards Martina could play baseline duels with the queen before Steffi, Gaby + Raunchie showed up.

 

[BTURNER]

The tennis association OWNED the players back then, and told them where they could play at the time. Billie Jean was assigned to the simultaneously played grass court circuit until she became #1 in the world in 1967, while the US(L)TA naturally gave the red clay circuit to the #1 clay court player in the USA, Nancy Richey. That all changed with Open Tennis, when the players gained more autonomy.

Do you have more information about this 'policy' of USLTA

I tend to judge 1970’s clay court standards by how well players fared against The Gold Standard aka Christine Marie Evert.
Billie Jean won two sets off Chris on clay and nearly beat her at The World Invitational Tennis Classic from Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head, South Carolina in 1973 at age 29. From that point on, I don’t think they ever played on clay other than the 1977 Family Circle Cup which was at the very beginning of Kings first comeback. So King was a very skilled clay courter obviously.

It’s unfortunate that Evonne was so intimidated by The Olde Lady in Paris in 1972. Evonne was the defending champion and top seed and was raised on clay. She should have won most clay matches against King. Having defended her French might have given her more confidence in the Wimbledon show down with King the following month, against as defending champion and top seed. Did they ever face off on clay ever again?

Evonne on the other hand not only beat Chris on clay twice, but she also handed Chris TWO SIX-LOVE SETS on clay in 1973.
Evonne was also in a winning position against Evert in the wonderful 1975 USO final, primarily playing baseline tennis until she pooped out, as she sometimes sadly did.

In 1982, Evonne was returning from her second childbirth and had not played a match in 5 months since the Australian 1981 season and she still won a set off world #1 Evert at the 1982 Citizen Cup in one of their most exciting matches. Evonne was now 30 and the match lasted over two hours.

Billie Jean was not capable of hanging with Evert from the baseline, not that she would ever even consider trying. But BJK had a ton of success against Nancy Richey, who also bothered Chris more than anyone ever on clay.

Only Nancy, Evonne, The Reverend and wee Tracy could play successful baseline tennis against 70’s era Chris Evert. They were truly great clay counters. The 80’s were different with Hana, Andrea, Manuella and 1984 + onwards Martina could play baseline duels with the queen before Steffi, Gaby + Raunchie showed up.

Gotta correct the record here. I suspect you are glancing at this "World Invitational (Sept. 9-11; Hilton Head, SC, hard): 1R. def. Billie Jean King 4-6, 7-6, 6-1; lost to Margaret Court 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 " from the Evert Website. I made the same mistake. It was a hard court tournament, played in September back then, rather than Spring on clay we are thinking of now. It got switched to coincide with the Forest Hills switch to clay in 1976. There was no Hilton Head tournament in 1975. . It is also described here as a hard court event https://matchstat.com/tennis/tournaments/w/Hilton Head Invitational/1973.

Here is the actual Head to Head on clay between the two. It looks quite different without that score.

1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF W 6-7, 6-3, ret. This was 16 yr old Evert's very first meeting against King, and Chris took her to a tiebreaker, won the second before King retired. King never won another set, or got more than 4 games in any set on clay again.
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W 6-1, 6-0
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF W 6-4, 6-2
977 Hilton Head, SC F W 6-0, 6-1 this one was the March tournament on clay.

I am not all that impressed with these early scores compared to either Court, or Goolagong. It's actually more in line with Kerry Melville, Virginia Wade or Betty Stoves scores on clay against Chri than the aforementioned. King was dominated on clay by Chris even from the early days. This rivalry was sooo surface dependent through 1975.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

Oh you’re correct, I forgot I have seen that match replayed when the Tennis Channel wonderfully used to broadcast golden oldies! It was hard court. That does put BJK vs The Gold Standard in a different light. Quite different.

 

[pierceforehands]

I tend to judge 1970’s clay court standards by how well players fared against The Gold Standard aka Christine Marie Evert.
Billie Jean won two sets off Chris on clay and nearly beat her at The World Invitational Tennis Classic from Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head, South Carolina in 1973 at age 29. From that point on, I don’t think they ever played on clay other than the 1977 Family Circle Cup which was at the very beginning of Kings first comeback. So King was a very skilled clay courter obviously.
EDIT: CORRECTION The 1973 WITC was actually played on hardcourt, which gives BJK just a single clay set taken from Chris in a tie break when she was a wee 16 year old lass in their very first match.

It’s unfortunate that Evonne was so intimidated by The Olde Lady in Paris in 1972. Evonne was the defending champion and top seed and was raised on clay. She should have won most clay matches against King. Having defended her French might have given her more confidence in the Wimbledon show down with King the following month, against as defending champion and top seed. Did they ever face off on clay ever again?

Evonne on the other hand not only beat Chris on clay twice, but she also handed Chris TWO SIX-LOVE SETS on clay in 1973.
Evonne was also in a winning position against Evert in the wonderful 1975 USO final, primarily playing baseline tennis until she pooped out, as she sometimes sadly did.

In 1982, Evonne was returning from her second childbirth and had not played a match in 5 months since the Australian 1981 season and she still won a set off world #1 Evert at the 1982 Citizen Cup in one of their most exciting matches. Evonne was now 30 and the match lasted over two hours.

Billie Jean was not capable of hanging with Evert from the baseline, not that she would ever even consider trying. But BJK had a ton of success against Nancy Richey, who also bothered Chris more than anyone ever on clay.

Only Nancy, Evonne, The Reverend and wee Tracy could play successful baseline tennis against 70’s era Chris Evert. They were truly great clay counters. The 80’s were different with Hana, Andrea, Manuella and 1984 + onwards Martina could play baseline duels with the queen before Steffi, Gaby + Raunchie showed up.

I agree with what you said BUT Goolagong, Court, Richey all did much better vs Chris on clay than King did. Jones and Turner never got the chance obviously. So even by that metric, it does not change where I think King belongs on clay in her own era, behind all those I just mentioned. Also does she have a winning clay head to head with any of those? I think she might Goolagong, which I think is mostly mental, but any of the others? If she does I might reconsider, but if not, I even moreso stand by what I said. She was a pretty good clay courter, but not even top 5 in her own era, and did well to win just 1 French Open title when there are a lot of equally good or better clay courters than her who won 0.

 

[EvonneFedererBorgster]

Yeah I was saying she was a rung lower than Court, Richey and Evonne. And in that order. 1971-72 seemed to be peak King. King met 16-17 year old Evert four times and only won 18 games in four encounters. There were two love sets and two bagel sets. Obviously Chris has handed very easy clay beat downs to Evonne, Martina (love + love in ‘81!), Hana, Andrea, Wade. But BJK only won 8 games in three matches after that first meeting. Peak BJK just could not hang with Evert on clay, even baby Chris, in her early 70’s Glory Days.

 

[Verbal Volley]

Do you have more information about this 'policy' of USLTA

Gotta correct the record here. I suspect you are glancing at this "World Invitational (Sept. 9-11; Hilton Head, SC, hard): 1R. def. Billie Jean King 4-6, 7-6, 6-1; lost to Margaret Court 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 " from the Evert Website. I made the same mistake. It was a hard court tournament, played in September back then, rather than Spring on clay we are thinking of now. It got switched to coincide with the Forest Hills switch to clay in 1976. There was no Hilton Head tournament in 1975. . It is also described here as a hard court event https://matchstat.com/tennis/tournaments/w/Hilton Head Invitational/1973.

Here is the actual Head to Head on clay between the two. It looks quite different without that score.

1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF W 6-7, 6-3, ret. This was 16 yr old Evert's very first meeting against King, and Chris took her to a tiebreaker, won the second before King retired. King never won another set, or got more than 4 games in any set on clay again.
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W 6-1, 6-0
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF W 6-4, 6-2
977 Hilton Head, SC F W 6-0, 6-1 this one was the March tournament on clay.

I am not all that impressed with these early scores compared to either Court, or Goolagong. It's actually more in line with Kerry Melville, Virginia Wade or Betty Stoves scores on clay against Chri than the aforementioned. King was dominated on clay by Chris even from the early days. This rivalry was sooo surface dependent through 1975.

Actually they played three times in WTT in 1976 on an indoor surface. Billie Jean won two of the three sets. 1976 was the end of BJK as a challenger for GS titles. She had a double knee operation and emerged a step or two slow. She had losing records against Evert, Navratilova, Court and Austin. She had winning records against Durr, Richey, Bueno, Jones, Wade, Goolagong, Reid, Morozova, Casals, and all of her other challengers. She will never be the greatest on anyone's list of the best of all-time. She even admits to this fact. Her career W/L % was reduced dramatically after 1976, and even further from 1981-1983, when she only played to earn enough $$ to pay her legal bills as a result of the lawsuit brought against her by Marilyn Barnett. 1981 was a disaster for her in singles. Because of the palimony suit she felt uncomfortable playing in front of a crowd and lost match after match as a result. She even tried to change her appearance. In a doubles event with her partner Andrea Jaeger, she played without her glasses, with her hair in a single ponytail. Her lifetime record against Margaret Court is always quoted incorrectly. Court had a 21-13 edge in their rivalry. Billie won there first meeting in 1962 at Wimbledon. Court then won their next nine matches without the loss of a single set. In their last 24 encounters, they were dead even at 12-12. This is according to both of their autobiographies, "All In" and "Court on Court".

 

[Verbal Volley]

Here is the head to head
1971 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-7, 6-3, ret.
1971 U.S. Open SF grass L 6-3, 6-2
1972 Ft. Lauderdale, FL F W clay 6-1, 6-0
1972 Dallas, TX QF hard L 6-7, 6-3, 7-5
1972 St. Petersburg, FL SF clay W 6-2, 6-3
1972 Boca Raton, FL SF clay W 6-4, 6-2
1973 Wimbledon F grass L 6-0, 7-5
1973 Hilton Head, SC RR clay W 4-6, 7-6, 6-1
1974 San Francisco, CA F indoors L 7-6, 6-2
1974 Mission Viejo, CA F hard W 6-3, 6-1
1974 New York, NY F indoors L 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1975 San Francisco, CA indoors F W 6-1, 6-1
1975 Sarasota, FL F indoors L 6-2, 6-3
1975 Austin, TX F hard W 4-6, 6-3, 7-6
1975 Wimbledon SFgrass L 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
1977 Hilton Head, SC F clay W 6-0, 6-1
1977 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-1, 6-2
1977 U.S. Open QF hard W 6-2, 6-0
1977 Colgate Series finals F hard W 6-2, 6-2
1978 Boston, MA SF indoors W 6-3, 6-2
1978 Philadelphia, PA F indoors W 6-0, 6-4
1978 Wimbledon QF grass W 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
1979 U.S. Open SF hard W 6-1, 6-0
1982 Wimbledon SF grass W 7-6, 2-6, 6-3
1982 Australian Open QF grass W 6-2, 6-2
1983 Slims Championships SF indoors W 6-1, 6-1

Evert 19- King 7

First note the early years before Evert took the number one spot. Somehow I thought that the US Open of 71 was the first meeting. I never heard about the Fort Lauderdale meeting, a technical win for Evert on Florida clay, after losing the second set, King retires. Anyone know more about this first meeting or why King retired?

In the same event a year later Evert crushed the higher ranked champion. In fact King never was never ahead in the rivalry, never won two matches in a row over the girl in a ponytail.
Through 1974, the rivalry was completely dominated by surface. (Evert won every meeting on clay or hard courts. King won every meeting on grass or carpet) before Chris gained leverage early in '75 winning in San Francisco on carpet.

1974 was a good year for Chrissie in that all of the best players were playing Team Tennis. All she had to do to win the tournament was enter it. When all of the top players competed at the same events, she was 1-2 vs. King, and 2-4 vs. Goolagong.

 

[BTURNER]

1974 was a good year for Chrissie in that all of the best players were playing Team Tennis. All she had to do to win the tournament was enter it. When all of the top players competed at the same events, she was 1-2 vs. King, and 2-4 vs. Goolagong.

it does not explain why King and Court never established a winning record over Evert when she was new, and they were established 1-2 players in the world. They should both have a 4 -0 or 6-0 head to head lead before WTT starts in 1974, not 1970,1971,1972, 1973. Its really astonishing that this girl either got ahead or stayed even with both of them from the first day she played them. That's not normal and clay does not explain enough because in theory they are both good solid professional clay courters (Court is more than that) while she is still playing barely free of junior tournaments.

 

[Verbal Volley]

it does not explain why King and Court never established a winning record over Evert when she was new, and they were established 1-2 players in the world. They should both have a 4 -0 or 6-0 head to head lead before WTT starts in 1974, not 1970,1971,1972, 1973. Its really astonishing that this girl either got ahead or stayed even with both of them from the first day she played them. That's not normal and clay does not explain enough because in theory they are both good solid professional clay courters (Court is more than that) while she is still playing barely free of junior tournaments.

Chrissie was an anomaly. She was a baseline player in a time of serve and volley supremacy. Players weren't used to that type of play in an opponent. Her father coached her well. Billie Jean was the only one who could play her close. Their head to head at the end of 1975 was 8-7 Evert. After her double knee operation in 1976, she lost a step or two and was never able to challenge Chrissie again. Billie Jean could "read" where Chrissie was going to hit her groundstrokes and lobs back then , but Margaret was completely baffled by Chrissie's game.