Billie Jean King at the time was angry that the $10,000 she earned for her 1972 U.S. Open victory was $15,000 less than what men’s champion Ilie Nastase won.
King was aware of a survey that had been conducted at the U.S. Open around that time showing that female players enjoyed more popularity than even they suspected. However, she believed that didn't matter unless they were given the same paychecks, so she took it upon herself to seek out sponsors she hoped would make up the $15,000 difference.Bristol Myers Squibb told her it wanted to pay the entire sum, and it was announced that summer that both the men's and women's U.S.
Equal pay came much later in the other Grand Slam tournaments, but King sees things speeding up now in women's sports. She just returned from the Women's World Cup in Australia, played to large crowds and huge local TV ratings, and is an investor in multiple professional women's and men's teams and events. at some high-profile tournaments to the same as the men.
The U.S. Open believes so, scheduling its matches on marquee courts and television windows equally to showcase both genders. The Australian Open didn't permanently start equal pay until 2001, five years before the French Open winners were paid equally. Wimbledon was the last in 2007, with Venus Williams helping lead the push that convinced the All England Club.
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