Tennis legend Billie Jean King was a pioneer for women’s sports. In addition to winning 20 Wimbledon titles, she founded the Women’s Tennis Association. King is best known for her win against self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. In the interview she spoke to Fresh Air’s Dave Davies about how she prepared for matches and why her physicality was so important on and off the court:
“I would think about how I wanted to act. Like they teach in acting, "act as if …” — it’s the same thing in sports. Do you stand up straight? Do you have your body language speaking in a confident way? Because 75 percent of the time when you’re on the court, you’re actually not hitting a ball. And I think that’s where the champions come through. So I would visualize all these different possibilities.“
photo via telegraph uk