19 February 2012

1979 (Age 35-36)



Billie Jean King's most meaningful tennis accomplishment in 1979 was her record-breaking 20th (and last) Wimbledon title. King and Martina Navratilova defeated their principal rivals, Betty Stove and Wendy Turnbull, in the women's doubles final 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Elizabeth Ryan and King had shared the previous record of 19 titles since King won her sixth singles title in 1975.

This women's doubles title was:
  • King's 10th at Wimbledon, with only Ryan having won more there (12 titles);
  • King's 38th Grand Slam title, thereby breaking the tie with Margaret Osborne duPont for the second highest number of those titles (39 titles by King at career-end, which as of April 2019 is tied with Serena Williams for the third highest of all time); and
  • King's 15th Grand Slam women's doubles title, which broke the tie with Doris Hart for the fifth highest number of those titles (16 titles by King at career-end which as of April 2019 is the eighth highest of all time).

In 2003 at the age of 46, Navratilova matched King's record of 20 Wimbledon titles by winning the mixed doubles title with Leander Paes. The 1979 title with King was the fourth Wimbledon title of Navratilova's career.

On December 22, 1978, King underwent 3.5 hours of surgery on her left heel. Her recovery was prolonged, which delayed the start of her participation in 1979 tournaments.

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Two weeks before the start of Wimbledon in 1979, King played singles at the Crosley Carpets Tournament in Chichester, United Kingdom. This was her first singles tournament since Wimbledon the previous year. In the quarterfinals, she shocked almost everyone by routing Navratilova, the defending Wimbledon champion. The next day in the semifinals, she missed several opportunities to defeat Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

At Wimbledon, King reached the quarterfinals without losing a set. She was up a service break at 2-0 in the third set against fourth-seeded Tracy Austin, but King lacked the fitness to hold that lead and lost the last 6 games of the match.

Two months later at the U. S. Open, King did not lose a set in four matches. In the quarterfinals, she and fourth-seeded Virginia Wade renewed their long but King-dominated rivalry. As in many of their previous matches, Wade played below her ability and lost 6-3, 7-6(4). King's next match was against Chris Evert Lloyd in the semifinals. Many predicted a very competitive match, and some believed that King would win. But during a bear hug the day before that match, a friend injured King's neck. It was very sore the next day, which allowed Evert Lloyd to run away with the match.

Despite her disappointment with the U. S. Open, King rebounded to win the Toray Sillook tournament in Tokyo, which was in the highest-tier (AAAA) of tournaments in the Colgate Series.

Despite missing almost 6 months of singles tournaments, King finished ninth in the Colgate Series singles standings with 560 points. Only the top 8 players, however, qualified for the draw at the Colgate Series Championships. Regina Marsikova was the final qualifier with 615 points. King had traveled all the way to Australia just before those championships in a frustrating and unsuccessful effort to earn enough points to pass Marsikova.

At the end of 1979, the United States Tennis Association ranked King fourth in singles among American women, behind Navratilova, Evert Lloyd, and Austin. Lance Tingay at the London Daily Telegraph ranked King fourth in the world. Rino Tomassi of Tennis Club magazine and Bud Collins of the Boston Globe ranked her fifth. Last, but not least, King was ranked fifth in the year-ending "Women's International Computer Rankings," which the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) released on December 31, 1979:
https://web.archive.orghttps://web.archive.org/web/20121021034445/http://www.wtatennis.com/SEWTATour-Archive/Rankings_Stats/Singles_Numeric_1979.pdf 

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The following lists the WTA's year-end top 10 players, plus King's 1979 singles record against them, their total ranking points, the number of their events and matches considered for ranking purposes, and their ranking points average:

#01  1-2  315  20  100  15.748   Martina Navratilova
#02  0-1  282  20  101  14.111   Chris Evert Lloyd
#03  0-2  252  18    87  14.004   Tracy Austin
#04  2-1  165  14    61  11.814   Evonne Goolagong Cawley
#05  0-0  124  14    46    8.857   Billie Jean King
#06  1-1  201  24    86    8.375   Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat
#07  1-0  222  27    89    8.214   Wendy Turnbull
#08  1-0  175  22    76    7.959   Virginia Wade
#09  0-1  159  24    70    6.645   Kerry Melville Reid
#10  0-0  179  27    85    6.618   Sue Barker
        6-8  42.9%  Total

Here is the same information for some well-known players who finished outside the WTA's year-end top 10 and for all the lesser-known players who defeated King in singles:

#11  0-0    98  15    54    6.555   Kathy Jordan
#13  1-1  166  27    78    6.149   Virginia Ruzici
#15  0-1  109  20    46    5.457   Ann Kiyomura Hayashi
#16  2-0    90  18    45    5.010   Sylvia Hanika
#17  2-0  104  21    63    4.952   Hana Mandlikova
#22  1-1    93  24    54    3.858   Betty Stove
#23  0-1    68  18    32    3.804   Marise Kruger
#25  0-1    97  26    61    3.717   Betty Ann Grubb ... Grout
#28  0-0    82  24    44    3.422   Rosemary Casals
#33  1-0    48  16    31    3.023   Pam Shriver
#57  0-1    25  08*  22    2.092   Nina Bohm
#72  0-0    20  08*  14    1.648   Karen Hantze Susman
#93  0-0    15  11*  15    1.226   Lesley Hunt
#96  0-0    15  11*  14    1.212   Francoise Durr

*When determining a player's points average, the divisor is the greater of: 12, and the number of tournaments played.

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KING'S HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD IN SINGLES IN 1979

2-0  Hana Mandlikova
2-0  Sylvia Hanika

2-1  Evonne Goolagong Cawley
1-0  Anne Hobbs
1-0  Barbara Jordan
1-0  Barbara Potter
1-0  Bettina Bunge
1-0  Brigitte Cuypers
1-0  Chris O'Neil
1-0  Diane Desfor
1-0  Glynis Coles
1-0  Greer Stevens
1-0  Hana Strachonova
1-0  Helena Anliot
1-0  Ivanna Madruga Osses
1-0  Julie Harrington
1-0  Kathy May Teacher
1-0  Kay McDaniel
1-0  Linda Siegel
1-0  Mareen "Peanut" Louie Harper
1-0  Pam Shriver
1-0  Pam Teeguarden
1-0  Rayni Fox
1-0  Renee Blount
1-0  Stacy Margolin
1-0  Terry Holladay
1-0  Virginia Wade (career 27-7)
1-0  Wendy Turnbull
1-0  Yvonne Vermaak
1-0  Zenda Liess

1-1  Betty Stöve
1-1  Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat
1-1  Virginia Ruzici

1-2  Martina Navratilova
0-1  Ann Kiyomura Hayashi
0-1  Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent 
        Grout
0-1  Chris Evert Lloyd
0-1  Kerry Melville Reid
0-1  Marise Kruger
0-1  Nina Bohm

0-2  Tracy Austin

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Although the WTA did not begin to rank doubles teams until 1984, it did have an award for Doubles Team of the Year. That award went to King and Martina Navratilova for the second consecutive year.

King's first doubles competition in 1979 was the Federation Cup in April. Her next doubles event was in June at the Crosley Carpets Tournament in Chichester, United Kingdom.

Once King started playing, an intense, but friendly, rivalry built between the King / Navratilova and Betty Stove / Wendy Turnbull teams. The former won Wimbledon, the Colgate Series Championships, the U. S. Indoor Championships (a top-tier "AAAA" tournament in the Colgate Series), and the Porsche Classic (Stuttgart). They were the runners-up at the U. S. Open and did not play the French Open. Stove / Turnbull impressively won the U. S. Open, the French Open, the Italian Open, and 6 other titles. They also were the runners-up at Wimbledon and semifinalists at the Colgate Series Championships. King / Navratilova won 3 of their 5 matches against Stove / Turnbull, although King's all-partner record against them was 3-3.

The win-loss record of King and Navratilova as a team against some other teams and players was as follows:

4-0  Ilana Kloss / Betty Ann Grubb ... Grout
3-1  Anne Smith and her various partners
3-3  Turnbull and her various partners
3-2  Stove / Turnbull
3-0  Casals and her various partners
2-0  Chris O'Neil / Mimi Wikstedt
2-0  Renee Blount and her various partners
1-0  Evert Lloyd / Casals
1-0  Greer Stevens / Casals
1-0  Hana Mandlikova / Virginia Ruzici
1-0  Pam Shriver / Casals
1-0  Renata Tomanova / Blount
1-0  Virginia Wade / Francoise Durr
0-1  Ann Kiyomura Hayashi / A. Smith
0-1  Stevens / Turnbull

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King's all-events win-loss record in 1979 was 76-20, 79.2% (35-10 indoor, 30-7 grass, 10-3 outdoor hard, 1-0 clay). She played 30 tournament events (winning 8 of them) plus Federation Cup, broken down as follows into singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles. (Third-place matches and walkovers are never counted in these statistics.)

* She played 16 singles tournaments (2 of which she won) with a win-loss record of 37-14, 72.5% (19-7 indoor, 12-5 grass, 6-2 outdoor hard). Against players who were not in the WTA's year-end top 10, King went 31-6, 83.8%.

* She played 12 women's doubles tournaments (6 of which she won) plus Federation Cup with a win-loss record of 37-5, 88.1% (17-1 grass, 16-3 indoor, 3-1 outdoor hard, 1-0 outdoor clay).

* She played mixed doubles at only Wimbledon and the U. S. Open. Her win-loss record was 2-1, 66.7% (1-1 grass, 1-0 outdoor hard).

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Week of April 30, 1979
Federation Cup
RSHE Club Campo
Madrid, Spain
Outdoor clay

General Notes:

(1) Vicki Berner was the captain of the U. S. team.

(2) Chris Evert Lloyd, Tracy Austin, and Rosemary Casals also were on the U. S. team.

(3) Both of King's matches were in doubles and were dead rubbers.

U. S. team results:

1R  Advanced by walkover. The Phillippines defaulted.
2R  U. S. defeated West Germany, 3-0
QF  U. S. defeated France, 3-0
SF  U. S. defeated the Soviet Union, 2-0 (doubles match abandoned)
FN  U. S. defeated Australia, 3-0

King in women's doubles with Rosemary Casals:

SF  versus Olga Morozova / Olga Zaitseva 9-8, abandoned (dead rubber)
FN  d. Kerry Melville Reid / Wendy Turnbull 3-6, 6-3, 8-6 (dead rubber)

Week of June 11, 1979
Crosley Carpets Tournament
Oaklands Park
Chichester, United Kingdom
Grass

General Notes:

(1) This was King's first singles tournament since Wimbledon almost one year previously.

(2) This was a Colgate Series AA tournament. King received 40 points for losing in the singles semifinals and 12 points for being the runner-up in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) and 8 seeded players. The doubles draw included 16 teams (4 rounds) and 4 seeded teams.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [8] seed:

1R  d. Anne Hobbs 6-1, 7-6(9)
2R  d. Brigitte Cuypers 5-7, 7-6(2), 6-2
QF  d. [1]  Martina Navratilovha 6-1, 6-2
SF  lost to [5]  Evonne Goolagong Cawley 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 (35 games)

King needed less than 30 minutes to win the first set of her semifinal match with Evonne Goolagong Cawley. She rocketed to a 3-0 lead before Goolagong Cawley won her only game of the set. The Australian took a 5-2 lead in the second set; however, King clawed her way back. She had game point on her own service to level the set at 5-5. But King gave away the point when she called a let on herself. Goolagong Cawley then broke serve to win the set. King again fell behind 3-1 in the final set but broke and held to tie the set at 3-3. Goolagong Cawley saved 4 break points on her way to taking a 5-4 lead. From that point on, King was always struggling to stay in the match. The Australian converted her second match point when a lob left King stranded. The match lasted more than 2 hours. King said, "I'll go over that match, think about it, dream about it, and throw up. Evonne played really well. I tried to do a bit too much and felt a bit sluggish."

In the quarterfinals (played the same day as the second round), King crushed Martina Navratilova, the defending Wimbledon singles champion, in only 48 minutes of play. Navratilova "could not cope with King's scorching crosscourt shots" as she lost the last 5 games of the opening set. King did not let up in the second set, winning 4 consecutive games to put the match out of reach. King said, "I played the best I can, while Martina couldn't have played worse. ... I now know I can do well at Wimbledon. I have proved that I have the right to play there." Navratilova said, "I have to be happy to play well, and I didn't feel right [here], where the courts were terrible."

The second round match between Brigitte Cuypers and King featured 7 service breaks in the first set and 6 more in the second set. After a rain delay in the third game of the final set, King took control of her own service and the match.

King had a 5-3 second set lead over Ann Hobbs in their first round match. But Hobbs broke serve to send the set into a tiebreak. The American won the tiebreak and the match on her fourth match point. She also saved 2 set points.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [1] seed:

1R  d. Chris O'Neil / Mimi Wikstedt 6-1, 6-3
QF  d. Lele Forood / Cynthia Doerner 6-4, 6-2
SF  d. [4]  Ilana Kloss / Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent Grout 7-6, 6-2
FN  lost to [2]  Wendy Turnbull / Greer Stevens 6-3, 1-6, 7-5

Week of June 18, 1979
Colgate International
Devonshire Park
Eastbourne, United Kingdom
Grass

General Notes:

(1) King pulled a muscle in her right leg during the second game of her third round singles match with Kerry Melville Reid. She retired from the match when the pain got worse. She said afterwords, "I think it will be fine for Wimbledon. I just didn't want to take it to a point where I couldn't play on." She also defaulted her second round women's doubles match.

(2) This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 15 points for losing in the round of 16 in singles and 3 points for reaching the round of 16 in doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 55 points in singles and 15 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 64 women (6 rounds) and 16 seeded players. The doubles draw included 32 teams (5 rounds) but only 2 seeded teams.

(2) The available singles draw is missing seeds 5, 13, and 16. And Greer Stevens could not have been the eighth seed because she was in the fourth seed's eighth of the draw. A fourth seed would never play an eighth seed in the round of 16. It is possible that Kerry Melville Reid was a seeded player

(3) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [14] seed:

1R  d. Barbara Jordan 5-7, 6-4, 6-0
2R  d. Kay McDaniel 6-4, 6-1
3R  lost to Kerry Melville Reid 4-4, retired

If King had managed to defeat Kerry Melville Reid in the third round, she would have played Chris Every Lloyd in the quarterfinals.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [2] seed:

1R  d. Renata Tomanova / Renee Blount 6-2, 6-0
2R  King / Navratilova defaulted. Sue Barker / Ann Kiyomura Hayashi advanced by walkover.

Weeks of June 25 & July 1, 1979
Wimbledon
All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club
London, United Kingdom
Grass

General Notes:

(1) King was a late entrant to the singles draw, and her entry was not accepted initially because the draw was full. Lesley Charles subsequently withdrew, and King was then granted entry in a departure from the rules, which would have given Marjorie Blackwood a place.

(2) Although King played Wimbledon 3 more times, the women's doubles was her 20th and last Wimbledon title. She broke Elizabeth Ryan's record of 19 Wimbledon titles the day after Ryan suffered a stroke at Wimbledon and died on the way to hospital. Ryan was stricken just after she had watched Martina Navratilova defeat Chris Evert Lloyd in the singles final. King said, "All I could do was think of Elizabeth. It took all the joy out of winning. We were both from the same area of California. When I was a teenager, just beginning, I would see her around the Los Angeles Tennis Club. Everybody knew her and knew her record. I thought of her during the match. I found myself waking up thinking of her. I talked some with her last year. She told me that she would like to keep the record but, if it had to be broken, she would be happy if I did it." When asked earlier in the week about King possibly breaking her record, Ryan joked, "I hope she breaks her leg."

(3) This was a Colgate Series AAAA tournament. King received 40 points for losing in the singles quarterfinals and 32 points for winning the doubles title. To this point in 1979, she had earned 95 points in singles and 47 points in doubles.

King in singles, [7] seed:

1R Court 5:  d. Yvonne Vermaak 6-4, 6-1
2R Court 2:  d. Linda Siegel 6-1, 6-3
3R Court 5:  d. Diane Desfor 6-3, 6-2
4R Centre Court:  d. [NS]  Hana Mandlikova 6-4, 6-3
QF Centre Court:  lost to [4]  Tracy Austin 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2

King earned 2,000 pounds (about US$4,400) (inflation-adjusted to US$15,400 in April 2019 dollars) for losing in the quarterfinals.

This quarterfinal on Centre Court matched, for the first time anywhere, the 16 year old Tracy Austin with the 35 year old King. Austin was playing at Wimbledon for only the third time. In contrast, this quarterfinal was King's 95th Wimbledon singles match - an ongoing record she extended everytime she played singles at her favorite tournament. This also was the 19th consecutive year that King had  played singles or women's doubles, or both, at Wimbledon. Despite this grlaring mismatch in experience, Austin appeared to be brimming with confidence the day before the match. "She's not going to intimidate me. I'm ready for her."

But once the match started, did she back up her bravado? Two games had been played in the deciding set of this magnificent, rare, intergenerational match. After barely winning the second set, "Mrs. King" had just taken an improbable 2-0 lead in the third by breaking the serve of "Miss Austin." Then while serving, she got within one point (40-30) of taking a 3-0 lead. Things were not looking good for Austin....

King had undergone 3.5 hours of surgery on her left heel on December 22, 1978, and had not played a singles match for almost a year. Many had doubted her and whispered that she should (again) retire. She even had to plead - in public - for Wimbledon officials to allow her into this year's singles draw. She felt that her career was not finished at the age of 35. Three weeks earlier at the rain-plagued Wimbledon warm-up in Chichester, she had proven the doubters wrong. She needed three sets to defeat the dangerous Brigitte Cuypers in a second round morning match. Just a few hours later in the quarterfinals, a highly motivated King embarrassed Martina Navratilova - her friend, doubles partner, and the reining Wimbledon champion - by allowing her only 3 games. The next day in a tense semifinal that required 18 games in the third set, she should have defeated the rival that she almost always defeats - Evonne Goolagong Cawley.

And now on Centre Court, she appeared to be just a few games from upsetting Austin. The columnist David Irvine at The Guardian newspaper in London said, "[T]here seemed no conceivable way this remarkable 35-year old could be prevented from taking her place against the women's singles champion, Martina Navratilova, in tomorrow's semifinals. Until, that is, someone pulled the plug." Thanks to her opponent's unrelenting ground strokes, King was now out of energy. Austin took full advantage by winning the last 6 games of the match. She broke King's serve 3 consecutive times and won 17 of the last 24 points. The match had lasted 2 hours, 2 minutes.

Until she ran out of gas, King had frustrated Austin with her variety. She constantly hit approach shots off of Austin's weak second service and dared her to hit passing shot after passing shot. In rallies from the baseline, King hit topspin, sliced, and flat forehands, sliced and topspin backhands, and dropshots, moonballs, and lobs. Although Austin hit most of them back, they had prevented the pace-loving Austin from dominating the match. Austin said that because they had practiced together so often, "I thought I knew exactly how she played, but she really surprised me with the spin shots on her forehand. I'd never seen those before."

Austin broke King's serve to take a 3-1 in the first set after King lost 2 game points from (40-15). Austin then held serve at love to extend her lead to 4-1. King held serve and then broke Austin's serve to pull within 4-3 after Austin lost all 3 of her game points. King and Austin then held serve easily. King served to stay in the set at 4-5, but 2 consecutive unforced backhand volley errors contributed to a (0-40) deficit. But King saved all 3 of those set points and won the next point to give herself a game point. She lost it and a subsequent game point after the second deuce. Austin won the next 2 points to win the set on her 4th set point. Of Austin's last 20 first serves during this set, she faulted only twice.

King broke serve for a 4-3 lead in the second set and at 5-4, she served to level the match. But she made a couple mistakes in that game, allowing Austin to break back. In the tiebreaker, the server won only 4 of its 12 points, but Austin was always under the greater pressure. King blew her first set point at (6-4) by volleying into the net. At (6-5), King attacked the net and then Austin hit a lob beyond the baseline.

At 2-0 (40-30) in the third set, Austin hit a "glorious forehand winner" to get to deuce. King then lost her serve to reduce her lead to 2-1.

After that service break, the pattern of the match changed. Austin stopped missing first serves. Her last 17 first serves of the match were good. This prevented King from doing what she had been doing best - attacking Austin's soft second serve, getting to net, and using her world class volleys and smashes to win points.

Austin consolidated her break of King by holding serve in the fourth game. And then she broke King again. Suddenly, Austin had all the momentum and was serving with a one-break, 3-2 lead. King had a break point to level the set at 3-3, but could not convert. That turned out to be King's last chance to stay in the match.

Afterwords, King said, "I'm ticked. I hate to lose. The trouble is that I haven't played enough tournaments this year. I stayed back when I should have been aggressive. She played her game better than I played mine. ... I'm supposed to be hard as a competitor, but when it came to it, I wasn't mentally tough at all. From [2-0] (40-30), I played just terrible. ... I'd forgotten how to cope with the mental pressures." She promised to return to Wimbledon in 1980 and said, "Today I learned what works and doesn't work against Tracy. And I'm looking forward to playing her again. But I've got to play tournaments now and learn to get used to pressure again."

What King could not know is that three years hence, in 1982, the 19 year old Austin with vastly more experience (and two U. S. Open singles titles) would play the 38 year old King in yet another Wimbledon quarterfinal exactly like this one. But the outcome would be completely different. In a match for the ages, a very fit King never let up, never ran out of gas, did not lose her nerve, and won going away 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

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King was impressive in defeating 17-year old Hana Mandlikova in the fourth round. After the match, King said, "I am playing as well as I ever have since 1975. I am hitting a heavy ball. I think the women's tournament is wide open. I am mentally and physically ready. There is no turning back. I am prepared to give 110 percent. If Hana ever gets her game together, she will be really tough. She has wonderful physical talent. She is tall and quick and makes some great shots. But because she is so young, she is inclined to hit and miss." This was the first time that King and Mandlikova had ever played each other in singles.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [1] seed:

1R bye
2R Court 2:  d. Tanya Harford / Anne Hobbs 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
3R Court 1:  d. Diane Desfor / Barbara Hallquist 6-1, 6-1
QF Court 2:  d. [7]  Ilana Kloss / Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent Grout 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
SF Centre Court: d. [3]  Virginia Wade / Francoise Durr 6-2, 6-4
FN Centre Court:  d. [2]  Betty Stove / Wendy Turnbull 5-7, 6-3, 6-2

King said that Navratilova was the key to winning the women's doubles final, more specficially her getting angry at Betty Stove and Wendy Turnbull because they did not object when the umpire awarded 2 serves to Stove after she hit an obvious fault during the third set.

King earned 3,465 pounds (about US$7,600) (inflation-adjusted to US$26,600 in April 2019 dollars) for winning the women's doubles.

King in mixed doubles with Ben Testerman, [NS]:

1R Court 10:  Advanced by walkover. Ann Kiyomura Hayashi / Ashok Armritraj defaulted.
2R Centre Court:  d. Winnie Shaw Wooldridge / Roger Taylor 6-1, 6-1
3R Centre Court:  lost to [4] Evonne Goolagong Cawley / John Newcombe 6-4, 6-3

Week of July 23, 1979
Obras '79 Indoor Tournament
Arena Obras Sanitarias
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Indoor

General Notes:

(1) Martina Navratilova defeated Virginia Wade in the semifinals, and then Evonne Goolagong Cawley defeated Wade in the third place match 6-1, 6-0.

(2) This tournament was not part of the Colgate Series.

Draws:

The singles draw included 8 women (3 rounds): four Argentines plus Wade, Martina Navratilova, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, and King. No doubles was played.

King in singles:

1R  d. Ivanna Madruga Osses 6-4, 6-3
SF  d. Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
FN  lost to Martina Navratilova 6-3, 6-4

Week of August 13, 1979
Central Fidelity Bank International
Robins Center, University of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Indoor (Sporteze)

General Note:

This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 0 points for losing in the first round of singles and 18 points for being the runner-up in doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 95 points in singles and 65 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles and doubles draws are available.

(2) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeded players. The doubles draw included 16 teams (5 rounds) with 4 seeded teams.

King in singles, [6] seed:

1R  lost to Ann Kiyomura Hayashi 6-1, 1-6, 6-2

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [1] seed:

1R  d. Wendy White / Nancy Yeargin 6-0, 7-5
QF  d. Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat / Mima Jausovec 6-3, 6-4
SF   d. [4]  Rosemary Casals / Greer Stevens 7-5, 6-2
FN  lost to [2]  Betty Stove / Wendy Turnbull 6-1, 6-4

Week of August 20, 1979
Volvo Cup
Ramapo College
Mahwah, New Jersey
Outdoor hard

General Note:

This was a Colgate Series AA tournament. King received 10 points for losing in the round of 16 in singles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 105 points in singles and 65 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds).

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

(3) King did not enter the women's doubles event.
    
King in singles, [5] seed:
1R  d. Sylvia Hanika 6-2, 2-6, 6-2
2R  lost to [NS]  Betty Stöve 6-2, 6-4

If the draw had held, King would have played third-seeded Virginia Wade in the quarterfinals, top-seeded Chris Evert Lloyd in the semifinals, and second-seeded Tracy Austin in the final.

Weeks of August 27 & September 3, 1979
US Open
U. S. T. A. National Tennis Center
Flushing Meadows, Borough of Queens, New York City
Outdoor hard

General Note:

This was a Colgate Series AAAA tournament. King received 80 points for losing in the singles semifinals and 24 points for being the runner-up in doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 185 points in singles and 89 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 96 women, 64 of whom would have played 7 matches if she had reached the final. The remaining 32 women would have played a maximum of 6 matches. Sixteen women were seeded. Seeds did not necessarily receive first round byes.

(2) The women's doubles draw included 48 teams, 32 of which would have played 6 matches if they had reached the final. The remaining 16 teams would have played a maximum of 5 matches. Twelve teams were seeded.  Seeds did not necessarily receive first round byes.

(3) The mixed doubles draw included 32 teams, all of which would have played 5 matches if they had reached the final. Six teams were seeded.

King in singles, [9] seed:

1R  d. Zenda Liess 6-3, 7-5
2R  d. Chris O'Neil 6-0, 6-3
3R  d. Stacy Margolin 6-3, 6-3
4R  d. Kathy May Teacher 6-3, 6-0
QF  d. [4]  Virginia Wade 6-3, 7-6(4)
SF  lost to [1]  Chris Evert Lloyd 6-1, 6-0

In her semifinal match with Chris Evert Lloyd, King was severely hampered by a neck injury sustained the day before during a bear hug with a friend. Evert Lloyd won the last 11 games and 48 of the last 63 points. This was her eighth consecutive win over King, with Evert Lloyd losing only one set and 31 games and King failing to win a game in 4 of their 17 sets.

In the quarterfinals, King defeated Virginia Wade for the 29th time in 39 career singles matches to that point in their careers.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [2] seed:

1R  bye
2R  d. Lea Antonoplis / Diane Evers 7-5, 6-2
3R  Advanced by walkover. [10]  Renata Tomanova / Regina Marsikova defaulted.
QF  d. [NS]  Paula Smith / Penny Johnson 6-1, 6-3
SF  d. [NS]  Julie Anthony / Sherry Acker 6-2, 7-5
FN  lost to [1]  Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull 7-5, 6-3

King in mixed doubles with Ben Testerman, [6] seed:

1R  d. Barbara Potter / Fred Stolle 6-2, 6-4
2R  King / Testerman defaulted. Kristien Kemmer Shaw Ziska / Butch Walts advanced by walkover.

Week of September 10, 1979
Toray Sillook
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
Tokyo, Japan
Indoor (hard)

General Note:

This was one of the six Colgate Series AAAA tournaments. King received 160 points for winning the singles title. So far this year, she had earned 345 points in singles and 89 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds.

(2) The singles draw is available.

(3) The women's doubles event was not held.

King in singles, [6] seed:

1R  d. Julie Harrington 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
2R  d. Mareen "Peanut" Louie Harper 6-2, 6-4
QF  d. [4]  Wendy Turnbull 4-6, 7-5, 6-1
SF  d. [2]  Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat 6-2, 7-6(6)
FN  d. [3]  Evonne Goolagong Cawley 6-4, 7-5

King was in the form that won her the Wimbledon singles title for the sixth time in 1975. Her well-controlled volleys and top spin ground strokes proved too much for Evonne Goolagong Cawley. The Australian said after the match, "Billie Jean can play for 10 more years and still be at the top." King said, "This is probably the best tennis I have played for years. Now I've got the momentum to go."

Week of September 24, 1979
Davison's Classic
Alexander Memorial Coliseum at Georgia Tech University
Atlanta, Georgia
Indoor (carpet)

General Notes:

(1) This tournament had a spectacular singles draw. If King had won her second round match, she would have played fifth-seeded Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the quarterfinals and top-seeded Martina Navratilova in the semifinals. Wendy Turnbull, seeded eighth, had one of the best tournaments of her career. She defeated second-seeded Chris Evert in the quarterfinals and third-seeded Tracy Austin in the semifinals and pushed Navratilova hard in the final 7-6(6), 6-4. Looking back, Navratilova called the tournament a "slaughter house."

(2) This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 15 points for losing in the round of 16 in singles and 6 points for losing in the doubles quarterfinals. To this point in 1979, she had earned 360 points in singles and 95 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 16 teams (4 rounds) with 4 seeds.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [4] seed:

1R  d. Sylvia Hanika 6-3, 6-2
2R  lost to Marise Kruger 1-6, 6-4, 6-2

King played flawlessly in the first set of her second round match with Marise Kruger. But the 21 year old South African used a strong return of serve in the second and third sets to upset King. She broke King in the sixth game of the second set for a 4-2 lead. King, however, immediately broke back to tie the set at 4-4. Kruger broke again and held serve to win the set. After Kruger took a 4-1 lead in the third set, she was never challenged.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [2] seed:

1R  d. Mary Carillo / Janet Newberry 6-1, 6-2
QF  lost to [NS]  Anne Smith / Ann Kiyomura Hayashi 6-7, 7-6, 6-3 (35 games)

Anne Smith and Ann Kiyomura Hayashi lost in the final to top-seeded Betty Stöve and Wendy Turnbull.

Week of October 1, 1979
U. S. Indoor Championships (Michelob Light Classic)
Met Center
Bloomington, Minnesota
Indoor

General Note:

This was one of the six Colgate Series AAAA tournaments. King received 40 points for losing in the singles quarterfinals and 32 points for winning the doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 400 points in singles and 127 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 16 teams (4 rounds) with 4 seeds.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [3] seed:

1R  d. Terry Holladay 6-2, 6-4
2R  d. Greer Stevens 6-4, 6-1
QF  lost to [5]  Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat 6-2, 2-6, 6-1

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [2] seed:

1R  d. Rosemary Casals / Pam Shriver 6-2, 6-1
QF  d. Renee Blount / Yvonne Vermaak 6-2, 7-5
SF  d. [3]  Ilana Kloss / Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent Grout 6-2, 7-6
FN  d. [1]  Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull 6-4, 7-6

Week of October 29, 1979
Stockholm Open
Kungliga Royal Tennis Hall
Stockholm, Sweden
Indoor (linoleum tile)

General Notes:

(1) This was a Colgate Series A tournament. King received 40 points for winning the singles title and 6 points for being the runner-up in doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 440 points in singles and 133 points in doubles.

(2) This tournament was one of the 7 official championships recognized by the International Tennis Federation.

(3) The crowds according to King "were as poor as when I first played here 10 years ago. In Europe, women's tennis is 10 years behind. I wonder if it will ever be like in America."

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 8 teams (3 rounds) with 2 seeds.

(2) No official draw sheet was found online.

King in singles, [1] seed:

1R  d. Hana Strachonova 6-2, 6-1
2R  d. Renee Blount 6-1, 6-2
QF  d. [6]  Hana Mandlikova 6-4, 7-6(3)
SF  d. [3]  Virginia Ruzic 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-2
FN  d. [5]  Betty Stöve 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-5

In the final with Betty Stöve, King had a comfortable lead at 6-3, 3-0 when Stöve started playing much better and eventually won the set. At 4-4 in the third set, King double faulted to lose her serve. When Stöve served for the match at 5-4, she lost her concentration and "wilted under the pressure." King hit a winning stop volley to give herself 2 break points at (15-40). Stöve saved the first one but not the second. King held serve and then broke again to win the match in 2 hours, 30 minutes.

Virginia Ruzici was 3 points from winning her semifinal match with King at (4-4) in the second set tiebreaker. But King won the next 3 points to level the match at one set each. The match lasted 2 hours, 30 minutes.

King in women's doubles with Ilana Kloss, [2] seed:

1R  d. Anne Smith / Mimi Wikstedt 6-2, 6-2
SF  d. Mima Jausovec / Regina Marsikova 6-1, 6-3
FN  lost to [1]  Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull 7-5, 7-6

Week of November 5, 1979
Porsche Classic
Filderstadt Tennis Club
Stuttgart, West Germany
Indoor (Greenset)

General Note:

This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 15 points for losing in the round of 16 in singles and 24 points for winning the doubles title. To this point in 1979, she had earned 455 points in singles and 157 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 16  teams (4 rounds) with 4 seeds.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [4] seed:

1R  d. Helena Anliot 6-3, 6-3
2R  lost to Nina Bohm 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [2] seed:

1R  d. Iris Riedel Kuhn / Heidi Eisterlehener 6-2, 6-1
QF  d. Bettina Bunge / Nina Bohm 6-1, 6-0
SF  d. [NS]  Hana Mandlikova / Virginia Ruzici 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
FN  d. [1]  Betty Stöve / Wendy Turnbull 6-3, 6-3

Week of November 19, 1979
Daihatsu Challenge
Brighton Centre
Brighton, United Kingdom
Indoor (Supreme carpet)

General Note:

This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 60 points for losing in the singles semifinals. To this point in 1979, she had earned 515 points in singles and 157 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds).with 8 seeded players.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

(3) King did not enter the women's doubles event.

King in singles, [4] seed:

1R d. Pam Teeguarden 6-3, 6-2
2R d. Barbara Potter 6-2, 6-2
QF d. [NS]  Glynis Coles 6-3, 6-1
SF lost to [1]  Martina Navratilova 7-5, 0-6, 7-6(3)

In the 38-minute first set of their semifinal, Martina Navratilova and King held serve until Navratilova finally broke serve to take a 6-5 lead. Navratilova then held serve to win the set. King won 7 consecutive games to win the second set 6-0 and take a 1-0 lead in the third. Navratilova held and broke serve to lead 2-1. That lead proved temporary as King held her own serve twice and broke Navratilova once. Navratilova saved four more break points at 3-4 in the third set and then broke King in the next game, allowing her to serve for the match at 5-4. King survived a match point during that game when Navratilova's lob was called long. King won 11 of the next 12 points to break Navratilova and hold her own serve. Navratilova served to stay in the match at 5-6, with King getting within two points of winning at 15-30. That is when Navratilova took control by holding serve and dominating the deciding tiebreaker 7-3. The match lasted 1 hour, 40 minutes.

Week of November 26, 1979
Toyota Classic
Kooyong Club
Melbourne, Australia
Grass

General Notes:

(1) This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 30 points for losing in the singles quarterfinals and 24 points for winning the doubles title. To this point in 1979, she had earned 545 points in singles and 181 points in doubles.

(2) King and Virginia Ruzici did not arrive in Melbourne until Tuesday morning. Tournament officials criticized them for not arriving on Monday because neither had reached the Brighton, U. K. tournament final. So, the Melbourne officials intended to take a hard line when they arrived and require them to play their first round matches within just a few hours of arrival. But that proved to be all talk and no action. They gave in and allowed King and Ruzici to play the first round on Wednesday, just like they wanted.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 16 teams (4 rounds) with 4 seeds.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [2] seed:

1R  d. Rayni Fox 6-1, 7-5
2R Centre Court:  d. Pam Shriver 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
QF Centre Court:  lost to [7]  Virginia Ruzici 7-6(7), 6-0

For the first time in six career singles matches, Virginia Ruzici defeated King in the quarterfinals in 1 hour, 20 minutes. King failed to convert either of her two set points in the first set tiebreaker. After the match, Ruzici said, "In that [second] set, I was playing my best tennis ever. I was confident. ... To me, Billie-Jean's the greatest player ever." King said, "She just got better after the tiebreaker and was hitting lines left, right, and centre. When you catch a player on a day like that, just forget it - it's a bad day at the office."

In the second round, King and Pam Shriver played each other in singles for the first time. A few days before the match, Shriver told the news media, "She'd better not try anything on me." As Shriver left the court after losing to King, she was on the verge of tears because she  thought she had blown a great opportunity to win. As the match wore on, Shriver resorted to some gamesmanship, like delaying the start of points.

King trailed Rayni Fox 4-0 in the second set of their first round match. King then broke serve in the sixth and eighth games while holding her own serve to take a 6-5 lead. King broke serve again in the twelfth game to win the match.

King in women's doubles with Wendy Turnbull, [1] seed:

1R  d. Chris O'Neil / Mimi Wikstedt 6-3, 6-2
QF  d. Rosalyn Fairbank Nideffer / Judy Chaloner 3-6, 7-5, 6-2
SF  d. [4]  Pam Shriver / Sue Barker 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
FN  d. [3]  Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat / Anne Smith 6-3, 6-3

Week of December 3, 1979
New South Wales Building Society Classic
White City Club
Sydney, Australia
Grass

General Notes:

(1) This tournament was unrelated to the Nabisco New South Wales Championships, which took place at this same location 2 weeks later. Hana Mandlikova won the singles title at that tournament.

(2) This was a Colgate Series AAA tournament. King received 15 points for losing in the round of 16 in singles and 24 points for winning the doubles. To this point in 1979, she had earned 560 points in singles and 205 points in doubles.

Draws:

(1) The singles draw included 32 women (5 rounds) with 8 seeds. The doubles draw included 16 teams (4 rounds) with 4 seeds.

(2) The singles and doubles draws are available.

King in singles, [2] seed:

1R  d. Bettina Bunge 7-5, 6-3
2R  lost to Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent Grout 7-5, 6-4

King lost her second round singles match in 100 degree heat on a poor grass court with an uneven bounce. She also was unhappy with the umpiring, but said after the match, "The wind and heat and my elbow didn't bother me. She simply outplayed me." This defeat marked the end of her attempt to overtake Regina Marsikova for the eighth and final spot in the singles draw of the year-ending Colgate Series Championships.

King in women's doubles with Wendy Turnbull, [1] seed:

1R  d. Chris O'Neil / Mimi Wikstedt 7-6, 3-6, 6-1
QF  d. Barbara Jordan / Kym Ruddell 6-3, 6-4
SF  d. [3]  Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat / Anne Smith 6-4, 6-4
FN d. [4]  Pam Shriver / Sue Barker 7-5, 6-4

Week of December 10, 1979
Emeron Cup (All-Star Invitational)
Gakuin Memorial Auditorium
Tokyo, Japan
Indoor

General Notes:

(1) This tournament was not part of the Colgate Series.

(2) This was a lucrative four-player, two-day special event that awarded US$200,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$663,000 in March 2019 dollars) in prize money and was played before capacity crowds of 6,000 each day.

(3) The final was between the 1979 singles titlists at Wimbledon (Martina Navratilova) and the U. S. Open (Tracy Austin). Surprisingly, Austin routed Navratilova. Austin received US$100,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$331,400 in March 2019 dollars), and Navratilova received US$50,000 for finishing second (inflation-adjusted to US$165,700 in March 2019 dollars).

(4) No doubles were played.

King in singles:

SF  lost to Tracy Austin 6-3, 2-6, 6-1
     Third place match: King defeated Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat 7-6, 7-6.

In the semifinal between Tracy Austin and King, the first set was on serve until King finally got broken at 3-4. Austin then held serve to wrap-up the set. In the second set, Austin was down a break when she served at 2-5 to stay in the set. King prevented any rally by breaking her then, with the help of Austin's double fault on set point. Austin quickly took the lead in the third set and never relinquished it. King held serve only once (game 3) during her 4 service games while Austin held serve in all 3 of hers. The 17 year old said after the match, "I played steady and just tried to play my own game." When asked if King played the same as five months ago during their Wimbledon quarterfinal, Austin said, "She was quicker today." King, now 36 years old, said, "I hit the ball too hard [in the third set], especially on return. She is mentally very tough. Her ground strokes are very good. The major trouble I've had this year is to sustain my concentration. But I feel better now."

In the third place match, King won two tiebreakers to defeat Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat. King took home US$30,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$99,500 in March 2019 dollars) while Fromholtz Balestrat received US$20,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$66,300 in March 2019 dollars).

Week of December 31, 1979
Colgate Series Championships
Capital Center
Landover, Maryland
Indoor (carpet)

General Notes:

(1) King's share of the singles Colgate Series bonus pool for singles was US$20,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$66,600 in April 2019 dollars).

(2) In the Colgate Series points race in doubles, King finished the year in fifth place individually with 205 points. King earned 151 points with Martina Navratilova, 48 points with Wendy Turnbull, and 6 points with Ilana Kloss. The top 4 teams qualified to play in this tournament. King's share of the doubles bonus pool was US$10,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$33,300 in April 2019 dollars).

(3) The unseeded team of Chris Evert Lloyd and Rosemary Casals defeated the top-seeded team of Betty Stove and Wendy Turnbull in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2.

(4) No Colgate Series points were awarded for this tournament.

Draw:
The doubles draw is available.

King in women's doubles with Martina Navratilova, [NS]:

1R  d. [2]  Ilana Kloss / Betty Ann Grubb Hansen Stuart Dent Grout 6-3, 6-2
FN  d. [NS]  Chris Evert Lloyd / Rosemary Casals 6-4, 6-3

King and Martina Navratilova each earned US$15,000 (inflation-adjusted to US$50,000 in April 2019 dollars) for winning the doubles title.

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