From tennis court to the classroom: Billie Jean King is finishing what she started

Billie Jean King remains one of the greatest ever in women’s tennis history. There was hardly anything that King did not achieve during her playing days. However, there was something unfinished, and at the age of 81, she is trying to complete it.

King returned to her college to finish her history degree. She explained on Instagram that despite achieving so much in the field of sport, it always ‘bothered’ her that she did not complete her education before. “I am having a great time,” she said while speaking to Los Angeles Times.

Kings resumed her education in the spring and is set to be enrolled as a senior student in the fall. “The thing they like, is that I have lived some of these historical moments,” said King explaining how it is to become a student once again. King’s efforts to complete her education at this age did not go unnoticed. Fans on social media expressed their admiration for King and shared their own and loved ones' stories.

"You are amazing, and this story makes me smile!!!" wrote one fan. "I love this. I'm guessing the pressure of all of those Wimbledon finals has prepared her for this. So much respect and love for her,” mentioned on another. "My Mom was 71 when she finished her doctorate. It took her 11 years and not getting it was never an option for that life long learner! You've got this!" one fan stated. "My mom told me that my great grandfather felt similar to you @billiejeanking and went to finish his degree after about 50 years and he did it! He graduated the same year my mom did...his granddaughter. You've got this!,” another one explained.

Kings finished her playing career in 1990 after winning 14 Grand Slam titles in the singles category in her illustrious career, but only nine of them came in the Open era. Her most successful competition was Wimbledon, where she won the competition as many as six times. Her last Grand Slam title came in 1975 in London, where she defeated Australia’s Evonne Goolagong Cawley in straight sets with a score of 6-0, 6-1.

Other than that, King achieved a lot of success in the doubles and mixed doubles categories. She won 16 doubles Grand Slams and 11 mixed doubles major titles. She won four tour finals and won the Fed Cup seven times as a player and four times as a captain. Overall, King won 129 titles in her career, but 67 of them came in the Open era. She finished her career with a win percentage of more than 80 percent, having won 1,124 matches and losing just 262.

Because of her stature in the tennis world, King is famous for having an opinion about various sports-related topics. Last year in September, King famously advocated for changing the point scoring system in tennis to make it more understandable for the common public, especially those who had just recently started watching.

“I cannot stand the scoring,” she said. “I think it's hard to get new people into the sport, particularly young people. I think we should get rid of the 15, 30, 40 game. We should have 1, 2, 3, 4. If you have to win by two, then at three all do two points in a row or whatever but get rid of 15, 30, 40. Every player should have their name and a number on. Why? We need to promote our players like every other sport does. You look at basketball, you look at football, baseball, they have their name and their number. I definitely want two out of three sets. Or we have to play the same amount, men and the women. Because we're getting paid by media content, and women always get shortchanged because of the content.”