and thank you bobby riggs. that also gave me a huge platform. [laughter] for several years, many of you in this room have been encouraging people to pick up a racket. but why? because tennis is the sport of a lifetime, and it can be enjoyed by people all ages and all abilities. the usta invests 100% -- 100% of the proceeds from the u.s. open for their mission. if you come to the u.s. open and buy a ticket, you are helping community tennis. the mission statement is to promote and develop the growth of tennis. in 2011, just last year, the u.s.t.a. invested almost $50 million for public skorts', scholarships and grants. that is a lot. the public courts -- public courts, scholarships and grants. that is a lot. who knows what 2012 will bring? recently, somebody asked me to name a huge turning point in my life. there were a lot. think that your own life and the turning point in your life. you never know how person is going to touch your life or how you are going to touch there's. you never know. so stay alert. rewind, fifth to grade, i elementary scho

besides her victory over bobby riggs, what was your most satisfying victory? >> first of all, that was not my .ost satisfying whein it was most satisfying from a pressure point of view. it was about social change, not about tenants. tennis at the grass-roots level exploded after that moment. i would say anything to do with teams, those are the ones i cherish. absolutely at the top. i am a team kind of girl. i grew up in team sports. for me, it is the teams. world team tennis, i played for those in new york and chicago teams, those are the ones i hold dear. i still have deeper relationships with those people, and also for the fed cut. touching the fed cup was a real honor. -- coaching the fed cup was a real honor. [applause] i want to thank all of you for coming out today. we have some tennis balls we are going to close with that ms. king is going to lob out into the audience. notice the colors. [laughter] >> a lot of people already have this stuff. they are like, i don't need this. [laughter] >> back in the back, get ready. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you a

and can thank you, bobby riggs, that also gave me a huge platform. [laughter] for several years many of you in this room have been, you know, encouraging people to pick up a racquet. but why? because tennis is a sport of a lifetime. and it can be enjoyed by people of all ages and all abilities. the usta invests 100%, 100% of the proceeds from the u.s. open towards their mission. so when you come to the open, if you buy a ticket, you're helping community tennis. and the mission statement is to promote and develop the growth of tennis. in 2011, just last year, the usta informed over -- invested over 49 million, that's almost $50 million, for public courts, scholarships, programs and grants. that's a lot. most national governing bodies don't do that. they usually are always asking for money. [laughter] so the usta's almost 50 million, of course, the u.s. open keeps growing, so who knows what 2012 will bring. recently somebody asked me to name a huge turning point in my life. well, there's a lot. if you look at -- think about your own lives and think abo

20, 1973, the world watched as billie jean king stepped onto the tennis court in houston to face bobby riggs, then one of the greatest tennis stars. in the leadup to the event, riggs had posted of his -- hosted his tennis prowess. he called female tennis players inferior. indeed it was but not in the way riggs thought. just a year earlier congress had passed title 9, mandating equality at schools and universities that received federal funding. but the benefits had not yet reached women's athletics. in 1972, just 29,000 women played varsity sports at the university level, compared with 170,000 men. in high school, the disparities were even worse. fewer than 300,000 high school girls played varsity sports compared with 3.7 million high school boys. king had just helped found the women's professional tennis tour at a time when men's tennis was a wash and prize tour. she won the u.s. open but earned $15,000 less. king said she would not play the next year if the tournament failed to even up the pot. in 1973, the u.s. open became the first major tournament to offer equal prize money. plawsplaused