King won seven Fed Cups as a player and four as the US team's captain. It was launched in 1963 and the United States are the most successful team in Fed Cup history having won the tournament 18 times. The Fed Cup is women's tennis' premier international team competition. When I see the Fed Cup trophy today I look at the first one and I think about us. 'And we did win and it was really special.
I love history and I remember saying, 'We have to make it this year, we have to win the very first one, it's historical'.
'I remember the first Federation Cup in 1963,' King added. The inaugural 12-team Billie Jean King Cup Finals will take place in Budapest, Hungary, in April. It is the first time a major global team competition has been named after a woman. It's really an honour and I'm very grateful.' 'Then my mind always turns to what I want to accomplish - let's get going. I'm still not sure it's true,' said King. She is an advocate for gender equality and in 1973 won the Battle of the Sexes match against Bobby Riggs.
