Tennis Icon Billie Jean King Wants You to Keep Moving, No Matter Your Age 

Billie Jean King, at 81 years young, is still running around the tennis court and advocating for women in sports, as she’s done her entire professional career. Recently, King's gotten back into tennis—thanks to the encouragement of her wife—and has been enjoying moving again. We sat down with the Battle of the Sexes winner to discuss all things aging, reflection, and more. And trust us, you'll want to hear her legendary wisdom.

King was recently honored as a returning member of QVC’s annual Quintessential 50, a group of women who have embraced being over 50 to inspire others to do the same. “I love [QVC’s] philosophy that it’s the age of possibility. I’m 81 now, so I can talk all about the 50s, 60s, and so on, and it’s amazing that you can be so productive and do so many things at any age,” King says. 

The Quintessential 50 gathers spokeswomen who continue to celebrate their age through curated products, shopping wishlists, and more through QVC. The women gather together in a new city each year to host panels and show off product line-ups. The line-up includes a plethora of new and returning members, including Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford, and Stacy London, to name a few. This year, these spokeswomen, media, and influencers gathered in Santa Monica, California, on May 15 to discuss how women can embrace being over 50 together. 

There’s still way more life ahead

King made her return to the Q50 class this year, excited to share everything she’s been up to, and inspire others that age does not define your capabilities. Since retiring from tennis, King has returned to college, continued learning the piano, and written several books with aspirations for more. She passionately talked about wanting to write a book on Title IX, the very bill she spent the 1960s and 70s advocating for on Capitol Hill to open the door for endless opportunities for women in sports. “I want to write a book on Title IX. I lived through those times, and a lot of the books have it wrong. I want it to be the best book on [it] and women’s sports if I can," she explains.

“Something people don’t know about me is that I didn’t just play tennis. I was in the business,” King describes her time advocating for women’s sports. “I own tournaments, and now we work on women’s sports, trying to own, invest, and help and guide. I want women to have these opportunities that my generation certainly didn’t have.” 

She encourages younger people to continue their sport, even if they’re not number one. “You’re great the way you are, you know?" she emphasizes. "And if you don’t become number one in your sport, you can still stay in your sport, or if it’s music, whatever it may be, you can still be in it. There are so many things you can do to stay around what you love.” 

A poll conducted in 2015 by the National Public Radio, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health revealed that while 40 percent of people aged 18 to 21 years old play sports, only 20 percent of adults over 50 participate in sports. However, there are plenty of benefits to engaging in athletics at an older age.

Amongst the obvious benefits of maintaining muscle and strength, some people have found that athletics allowed them to rethink what being over fifty could mean. In one study published in Sport, Education, and Society, researchers found that sports participation amongst older individuals allowed for a redefinition of what aging meant for them.¹ And it's one of the reasons why King decided to put her tennis shoes back on after a hiatus of over forty years. 

Dusting off her serve—and getting her joy back

The tennis icon retired from the sport in 1983, but during COVID in 2020, her wife, Ilana Kloss, encouraged her to pick up the racket again. “The first time I hit the ball again, I thought to myself, ‘What have I been doing?’ I loved it,” King recounts. “So we use it for exercise, and it’s fantastic. I would say it has enhanced my life by triple, quadruple, because it makes me so happy, and I’m healthier because of it.”

And she’s right: tennis works your upper and lower body, and improves your balance. One study found that the health of older tennis players is positively impacted by enhanced aerobic capacities, increased strength, and greater bone densities.² 

King goes on to rave about how tennis can help improve your strength for everyday life. “Once you get stronger playing tennis, it helps you in everything like lifting groceries, and whatever you’re doing," she explains. “Everything is so helpful. I’m just so happy.” And while the joy from being able to better execute everyday tasks was a part of it, the former number one ranked tennis player in the world was even more effervescent in having her passion for the sport ignited again. 

King says that if she could go back and give some advice to her younger self, she would relieve her stresses by telling her that everything will be okay, and that she can just relax. She would urge herself to keep moving. King encourages people who are a bit older, who might be a little hesitant in getting back out there, to keep moving.

“We have to keep moving, so you have to judge where you're at,” she says. She encourages people of all ages to keep moving, but to be aware of their capabilities. King suggests even using something as simple as a chair to get moving and do some workouts that way, and taking a daily walk. Today, amongst casually playing tennis, King also meditates to try to engage in some mindfulness when things get really busy. And the focus on her physical and emotional well-being makes her just that much stronger in being an advocate for women of all ages to play their sport and be active.