Alan King Passion Award given to Billy Jean King at the Pacific Life Open (3/14/07)
Alan King Passion Award given to Billy Jean King at the Pacific Life Open (3/14/07)
Written by Todd Elliot
Full roundup of each day at the Pacific Life Open 2007 Tournament including interviews and stories of many of the players along with Photos coming soon.
ALAN KING PASSION AWARD TO BE AWARDED TO TENNIS LEGEND BILLIE JEAN KING
Jeannette King And Charlie Pasarell To Present Award On Stadium Court
INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 14, 2007 – The Pacific Life Open will give
the prestigious Alan King Passion Award, named after the godfather of
tennis tournaments, to legendary tennis player Billie Jean King on
Thursday, March 15, between the second and third matches of the day
session on stadium court. Billie Jean’s tennis career has spanned
three decades as a player and countless more as an ambassador for the
sport.
Her sporting achievements, which include a record 20 Wimbledon titles
among 39 Grand Slam titles, are only eclipsed by her off-court
accomplishments. A pioneer for female athletes, King’s activism paved
the way for equal pay and equal rights for generations of female
athletes to come.
An integral figure in the passing of Title IX, the federal law that
banned sex discrimination in schools and created more opportunities
for women in college sports, King also brought about equal prize money
to the U.S. Open in 1973.
In addition to co-founding World Team Tennis, the Women’s Sports
Foundation and Women’s Sports magazine, King’s historic defeat of
Bobby Riggs in 1973 may be the defining moment in tennis and popular
culture. Her victory proved to be the most watched tennis match in
history, spearheading the women’s equal rights movement in tennis by
bringing massive public and media attention to the cause.
King was named one of the "100 Most Important Americans of the 20th
Century" by Life Magazine and ranked number five on Sports
Illustrated’s "Top 40 Athletes." She was recently honored by the
United States Tennis Association (USTA) as they renamed the USTA
National Tennis Center, home of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships and
the world’s largest public tennis park, to The USTA Billie Jean King
National Tennis Center.
The Passion Award was founded in
dedication to the sport of tennis. King’s love of the game translated
through the attention and details placed on his beloved namesake, the
Alan King Tennis Classic. Just like King’s presence, the Alan King
Tennis Classic is still known as the larger than life grandfather of
tennis tournaments, an insurmountable benchmark for the production of
the tennis events circuit. King was responsible for bringing the
popularity of tennis to a new level, still unsurpassed in grandeur, by
marrying the exclusive cache of Hollywood glitz and glamour, the
notoriety made only through TV and Alan King’s charismatic
personality.
About the Pacific Life Open
The Pacific Life Open, a two-week combined ATP Masters Series and Sony
Ericsson WTA Tour is held annually at the beautiful Indian Wells
Tennis Garden, located near Palm Springs in Southern California’s lush
desert oasis. The tournament features 250 of the top ranked men’s and
women’s players in the world. For more information about the
tournament or to purchase tickets, log onto www.PacificLifeOpen.com or
call