Editing Billie Jean King (section)

====1979====
During the first half of 1979, King played only one event – doubles in the Federation Cup tie against Spain – because of major surgery to her left foot during December 1978.

King returned to singles competition at the Wimbledon warm-up tournament in [[Chichester Tennis Tournament|Chichester]]. She defeated the reigning Wimbledon champion, Martina Navratilova, in a 48-minute quarterfinal 6–1, 6–2<ref>"Sports Shorts", ''The Capital'', Annapolis, Maryland, June 16, 1979, page 25</ref> before losing to Evonne Goolagong Cawley in the semi-finals 1–6, 6–4, 10–8. Seeded seventh at [[1979 Wimbledon Championships – Women's singles|Wimbledon]], King defeated [[Hana Mandlíková]] in the fourth round before losing the last six games<ref>{{Cite news|last=Radosta| first=John S.|author-link=John S. Radosta | title=Tracy Austin Ousts Mrs. King, 6–4, 6–7, 6–2 | newspaper=The New York Times | date=July 3, 1979}}</ref> of the quarterfinal match with fourth-seeded [[Tracy Austin]] 6–4, 6–7(5), 6–2. King partnered with Navratilova at Wimbledon to win King's 20th and final Wimbledon title, breaking [[Elizabeth Ryan]]'s longstanding record of 19 Wimbledon titles just one day after Ryan collapsed and died at Wimbledon.<ref>"Ryan dies at Wimbledon", ''The News'', Frederick, Maryland, July 7, 1979, page D-2</ref>

At the [[1979 U.S. Open – Women's singles|US Open]], the ninth-seeded King reached the quarterfinals without dropping a set, where she upset the fourth-seeded Virginia Wade 6–3, 7–6(4). Next up was a semi-final match with the four-time defending champion and top-seeded Chris Evert; however, with King hampered by a neck injury sustained during a bear hug with a friend the day before the match, Evert won 6–1, 6–0, including the last eleven games and 48 of the last 63 points.<ref name = "Amdur-19790908">{{Cite news| last=Amdur| first=Neil| title=Injured Mrs. King Is Routed By Mrs. Lloyd in Semi-finals|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 8, 1979}}</ref> This was Evert's eighth consecutive win over King, with Evert during those matches losing only one set and 31 games and winning four 6–0 sets.<ref name = "Amdur-19790908" /> Evert said after the match, "Psychologically, I feel very confident when I ... play her."<ref name = "Amdur-19790908" />

The following week in Tokyo, King won her first singles title in almost two years, defeating Goolagong Cawley in the final. In November in Stockholm, King defeated Betty Stöve in the final after Stöve lost her concentration while serving for the match at 5–4 in the third set.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Brace, Reginald |author2=King, Billie Jean |title=Play Better Tennis: With Billie Jean King and Reginald Brace | publisher=Octopus |year=1981 |page=46 |isbn= 0-7064-1223-0}}</ref> Three weeks later in Brighton, King lost a semi-final match with Navratilova 7–5, 0–6, 7–6(3) after King led 6–5 in the third set.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Navratilova-Lloyd Final|newspaper=The New York Times|date=November 25, 1979}}</ref> She ended the year with a quarterfinal loss in Melbourne (not the Australian Open), a second round loss in Sydney, and a three-set semi-final loss to Austin in Tokyo.