After a rousing tribute from former first lady Michelle Obama, Billie Jean King on August 28 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to female and male competitors, promising never to stop fighting to maintain that hard-won progress.
“While we celebrate today, our work is far from done,” King said in a speech to a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd between night matches. Echoing a quote from Coretta Scott King, she said: “Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won. You earn it and you win it in every generation.”
Ms. Obama introduced the 79-year-old tennis legend by recalling how King, as the defending U.S. Open champion in 1973, rallied her fellow women players to threaten a boycott of that year's tournament unless women got the same pay as men. It was announced that summer that the men's and women's U.S. Open champions would each receive $25,000.
