Editing Billie Jean King (section)

====1968====
In early 1968, King won three consecutive tournaments to end her Australian tour. In [[Perth]], King won the Western Australia Championships, defeating Margaret Court in the final. In [[Hobart, Tasmania|Hobart]], King won the [[Tasmania]]n Championships by defeating [[Judy Tegart-Dalton]] in the final. King then won the Australian Championships for the first time, defeating Dalton in the semi-finals and Court in the final. King continued to win tournaments upon her return to the United States, winning three indoor tournaments before Nancy Richey Gunter defeated King in the semi-finals of the [[Madison Square Garden]] Challenge Trophy amateur tournament in New York City before 10,233 spectators.<ref>{{cite news|last=Anderson |first=Dave |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F15F8345D147493C2AA1788D85F4C8685F9 |title=Miss Richey Upsets Mrs. King, 4–6, 7–5, 6–0, to Gain Garden Tennis Final |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 30, 1968 |access-date=July 4, 2011}}</ref> The match started with Gunter taking a 4–2 lead in the first set, before King won 9 of the next 10 games. King served for the match at 5–1 and had a match point at 5–3 in the second set; however, she lost the final 12 games and the match 4–6, 7–5, 6–0.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.elementfx.com/1968-tennis.html |title=News Archive; 1968: Tennis |publisher=News.elementfx.com |access-date=July 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304115624/http://news.elementfx.com/1968-tennis.html |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> King then won three consecutive tournaments in Europe before losing to Ann Haydon-Jones in the final of a professional tournament at Madison Square Garden. Playing the French Open for only the second time in her career and attempting to win four consecutive Grand Slam singles titles (a "non-calendar year Grand Slam"), King defeated Maria Bueno in a quarterfinal before losing to Gunter in a semi-final 2–6, 6–3, 6–4. King rebounded to win her third consecutive [[1968 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles|Wimbledon]] singles title, defeating Jones in the semi-finals and Dalton in the final. At the [[1968 U.S. Open – Women's singles|US Open]], King defeated Bueno in a semi-final before being upset in the final by Virginia Wade. On September 24, she had surgery to repair cartilage in her left knee<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1968/09/24/archives/mrs-king-undergoes-successful-surgery.html |title=Mrs. King Undergoes Successful Surgery |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 3, 2011 |access-date=July 4, 2011}}</ref> and did not play in tournaments the remainder of the year. King said that it took eight months (May 1969) for her knee to recover completely from the surgery.<ref>{{cite news|title=Surgery for Billie Jean|work=Independent Press-Telegram|location=Long Beach, California |date=July 11, 1970 |page=C-1}}</ref> In 1977, King said that her doctors predicted in 1968 that her left knee would allow her to play competitive tennis for only two more years.<ref>{{cite news|title=King Will Resume Singles Competition|work=The Pocono Record| location=Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania |date=January 20, 1977 |page=14}}</ref>