Editing Billie Jean King (section)

====1969====
King participated in the 1969 Australian summer tour for the second consecutive year. Unlike the previous year, King did not win a tournament. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Tasmanian Championships and the semi-finals of the New South Wales Championships. At the Australian Open, King defeated 17-year-old Evonne Goolagong in the second round 6–3, 6–1 and Ann Haydon-Jones in a three-set semi-final before losing to Margaret Court in a straight-sets final. The following week, King lost in the semi-finals of the New Zealand Championships. Upon her return to the United States, King won the Pacific Coast Pro and the Los Angeles Pro. King then won two tournaments in South Africa, including the South African Open. During the European summer clay court season, King lost in the quarterfinals of both the [[Rome Masters|Italian Open]] and the French Open. On grass at the Wills Open in [[Bristol]], United Kingdom, King defeated Virginia Wade in the semi-finals (6–8, 11–9, 6–2) before losing to Court. At [[1969 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles|Wimbledon]], King lost only 13 points while defeating [[Rosemary Casals]] in the semi-finals 6–1, 6–0;<ref>"Mrs. King Crushes Foe", ''Abilene (Texas) Reporter-News'', July 3, 1969, page 12-A</ref> however, Jones upset King in the final and prevented King from winning her fourth consecutive singles title there. The week after, King again defeated Wade to win the Irish Open for the second time in her career. In the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, King lost in the quarterfinals of the [[1969 U.S. Open – Women's singles|US Open]] to Nancy Richey Gunter 6–4, 8–6. This was the first year since 1965 that King did not win at least one Grand Slam singles title. King finished the year with titles at the Pacific Southwest Open in Los Angeles, the [[Stockholm]] Indoors, and the [[Midland, Texas|Midland (Texas)]] Pro. She said during the Pacific Southwest Open, "It has been a bad year for me. My left knee has been OK, but I have been bothered by a severe tennis elbow for seven months. I expect to have a real big year in 1970, though, because I really have the motivation now. I feel like a kid again."<ref>Billie Jean, Pancho Gain Pacific Southwest Finals", ''Independent Press-Telegram'', Long Beach, California, September 28, 1969, page S-6</ref>