"These guys laughed at Billie Jean King for years, turns out she was right": When Chris Evert lashed out at ATP, WTA for shunning King's tennis league
Chris Evert once expressed frustration with the tennis governing authorities for spurning fellow tennis legend Billie Jean King's World TeamTennis (WTT) league. Evert lambasted the ATP, WTA, and ITF for failing to recognize the value of King's innovative project.
In 1973, King led the charge to establish the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to champion equal rights for female players. The 12-time Grand Slam champion also made an effort to modernize tennis and make it more accessible to the American public by co-founding the World TeamTennis League in 1974.
The league introduced a groundbreaking mixed-gender format, featuring city-based teams modeled after the NBA, NFL, and MLB. WTT also implemented several unconventional rules, including the use of a multicolored court with no lines and five-set matches with no advantage scoring. Fans were also encouraged to cheer loudly with music blaring in the stadium, and on-court coaching was allowed.
Prominent players like Jimmy Connors and Evonne Goolagong Cawley took part in the inaugural edition of the league, with Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Vitas Gerulaitis also joining later.
However, the league was at odds with the tennis governing bodies, leading to Connors and Goolagong Cawley being forced to miss the 1974 French Open because Philippe Chatrier, the president of the French Tennis Federation, banned all WTT players. The ATP, WTA, and ITF also didn't support King's vision.
By 1994, with tennis facing a significant decline in viewership and attendance, the ATP, WTA, and ITF began exploring ways to modernize the sport and make it more accessible and entertaining for fans, echoing elements of the WTT. For instance, the ATP started implementing changes like on-court coaching, playing music during matches, and allowing the crowd to circulate freely.
In an interview with Sports Illustrated amid these developments, Chris Evert lashed out at the ATP, WTA, and ITF for ridiculing Billie Jean King's efforts with the WTT, only to adopt similar ideas themselves.
"These guys have laughed at Billie Jean for years. It turns out she was right," Chris Evert said.
King also revealed her dissatisfaction with the governing bodies, admitting that she often felt like dismantling the WTA and starting over.
"There is a part of me that wants to knock it all down and start over again," King said.
"Billie Jean King was the one person that wasn't threatened by me" - Chris Evert on legend changing other players' attitude towards her
When Chris Evert first broke out on tour in 1971, her early success made her a media sensation and brought her lucrative sponsorships. However, her 'It Girl' status caused tension with her peers, leading to Evert feeling ostracized by her fellow WTA players.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion disclosed that Billie Jean King was the only player not "threatened" by her. King changed the other players' perspective by making them understand the benefits Evert brought to women's tennis in terms of increased sponsorships, publicity, and revenue.
"I wasn't there but supposedly, Billie Jean King had a meeting with the other players. She said 'listen, Chrissie is putting money in our pockets. She is bringing more people to the table, to the matches, she is bringing more sponsorship, more money, more publicity, more TV, and this is very important for the growth of the game of women's tennis," Chris Evert said in a conversation with Debbie Millman in 2022.
"You are lucky that she's there'. I think that kind of changed their philosophy a little bit. King was the one person that wasn't threatened by me," she added.
Chris Evert and Billie Jean King also developed a thrilling rivalry on tour, locking horns 26 times. Evert dominated their head-to-head record, emerging victorious in 19 of their clashes.