- Tennis star and equality advocate Billie Jean King is just a few months shy of her 80th birthday.
- The 39-time Grand Slam champion told Insider she's taking steps to "live longer" and "live better."
Billie Jean King has never had trouble doing it all.
Become a tennis superstar and a leading voice for equality? No problem. Win singles, doubles, and mixed doubles in the same week at a Grand Slam tournament — a rare feat known as the Triple Crown that King says is "what I'm most proud of" in her tennis career? Easy enough to accomplish three times over.
Now, more than 30 years after hanging up her racket, King hasn't slowed down one bit. She effuses vitality, somehow still effortlessly juggling responsibilities and wearing countless hats even as she approaches her 80th birthday in November.
The gloomy day we connect on Zoom from 65 blocks apart in New York City is the same day King and her wife — fellow former tennis pro Ilana Kloss — are moving. Amidst the chaos of packing boxes and transporting furniture, she's trying to squeeze in a trip to get the latest COVID-19 booster.
"I have had five so far, but I need this new one," King told Insider. "Right now, I'm trying to get an appointment, but we're traveling, so I've tried to get in New York quickly."
Appointments aren't easy to come by, even for legends of sport and advocacy, but King insists: "By hook or by crook, I will get it."
Staying up to date on vaccines — which King, a Moderna partner, acknowledges "some people don't want" to do but insists is "really, really important" — is just one of the many ways she maintains such a fast-paced lifestyle. The Southern California native has kept an emphasis on all aspects of health and wellness through the years.
Even after undergoing a double knee replacement a while back, she's made a point "to exercise and keep moving."
"I would encourage everyone to find a mode of movement that will work for them," King said. "I do think it helps us live longer, but more importantly, helps us live better."
Billie Jean King returned to tennis after years away from the court
It may seem obvious that tennis is her favorite form of physical activity. But for many years after her retirement in 1990, King steered clear of the court.
It was only recently — during the early days of the pandemic — that Kloss finally convinced her to give it another try. Unsurprisingly to everyone but King herself, the 39-time Grand Slam champion took to the sport that made her a household name.
"Of course, now we're hitting at least twice, three times a week," King said. "But I just love tennis. I love to hit the ball. It's magical for me."
"Can I move?" she asked rhetorically. "Not very well. So I say I hit tennis balls now; I don't say I play. But it's fantastic."
Tennis isn't her only method of staying active
Less predictable than her love of tennis is King's interest in weight training. While she admits that she doesn't get in her reps as often as she should, the 79-year-old believes "lifting is really important" for women her age — whether it be with weights, bands, or anything else.
King tries to incorporate a good mix of aerobic and anaerobic activities into her routine. She knows that's the path everyone has to take to "live longer" and "live better."
"It helps in everything — I know it does in my life — to be stronger and to feel better," King said. "And as you really get older, like me, you start to notice: 'Can I lift as much as I used to? How about walking upstairs?' Everything."
"You really have to concentrate and to work on it," she added. "And if you don't use it, you lose it."