Five decades on, King says birth of WTA among her greatest moments

BENGALURU : For trailblazer Billie Jean King, her leading role in the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) half a century ago ranks above the many successes she enjoyed on court as a standout moment in her life.

King, 79, was the leader of nine players - the "Original Nine" - who formed the Virginia Slims Circuit in 1970 and three years later the WTA, which became the first truly global professional sports tour for women.

Following a meeting of around 60 fellow players at a packed conference room in London's Gloucester Hotel on June 21, 1973, King emerged as the president of the new organisation and began her push for equal prize money for women at the Grand Slams.

"It was pretty exciting. It was probably one of the most exciting days for me," King told Reuters during the French Open.

"Are you kidding? We finally had this. We had one voice. We had power and we were all together."

King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and a further 27 in doubles but said the exhilaration of the early days of the WTA was unmatched by her considerable successes on court.

"Everyone thinks about what you win. That's third or fourth on the line," she said.

"I was getting no sleep, but I was so happy. It gave me so much buoyancy and adrenaline that every day I woke up I was like 'we have a WTA. God, now we can really make things happen'.

"That was just step one. You know me, I've got the vision up here. We still had so much to do, (but) I knew that it was going to happen."

'SIGN OF BELIEF'

The WTA has gone from strength-to-strength over the last 50 years with circuit restructures and bringing major worldwide sponsors on board helping drive growth.

This year, it announced a commercial partnership with private equity fund CVC Capital Partners