March is Women’s History Month, celebrating the achievements of the women of our past and present. During this time, many people look back and remember the women who have left their marks. One prime example is Billie Jean King, a famous American tennis player.

Born in 1943, in Long Beach, California, she started playing tennis at a very young age on her hometown’s free public courts. By the age of fifteen, King was already making her way to her first grand slam tournament, the U.S. Championships. In her tennis career, she has taken the title of thirty-nine grand slams, been number one in the world for five years, and won a total of one hundred and twenty-nine singles titles. Many consider her the best professional female tennis player ever.

During the start of her professional career, women were paid a significantly lower amount of money than men. On average, a women’s salary was 61.3% of a man’s salary according to the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1959.

By the end of her career, things had changed. In 1983, a women’s salary was 63.6% of a man’s salary, a small increase showing the rise of gender pay equity. King’s career prize is worth a total of $1,966,487. She and a few colleagues formed the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973, and King eventually became its first president. Fifteen years later, King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

Billie Jean King’s most notable match was a showdown between her and Bobby Riggs, which became known as “the Battle of the Sexes”. Unlike King, Riggs believed that men were superior at tennis. On September 20, 1973, under much pressure and with great enthusiasm, King played a tough match against Riggs and took home the victory. As Larry Schwartz of ESPN said, “…even more significant than her winning 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles and mixed-doubles titles, she was a pioneer.”

King has impacted not only tennis, but also the world beyond the sport. “King became a significant force in opening tennis to professionalism. She carried a deep sense of injustice from her amateur days,” says Schwartz. By the end of her career, she greatly impacted women’s equality in sports, specifically tennis. As Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated had said, “[S]he has made a whole sport boom because of the singular force of her presence.” She helped to create a new attitude on women’s equality not only in sports, but also across all professional fields. Girls everywhere looked at sports differently as a path to new opportunities beyond their traditional roles in society.

Not only did Billie Jean King achieve many titles on the tennis court, but she also fought for women’s equality in sports. Now as March and Women’s History Month ends, take a moment to explore more women of our past and present who have made an impact on people’s lives today.