US Open honors Billie Jean King on 50th anniversary of equal prize money for women

After a rousing tribute from former first lady Michelle Obama, Billie Jean King on Monday celebrated the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Open becoming the first sporting event to offer equal prize money to female and male competitors, promising never to stop fighting to maintain that hard-won progress. “While we celebrate today, our work is far from done,” King said in a speech to a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd between night matches. Obama introduced the 79-year-old tennis legend by recalling how King, as the defending U.S. Open champion in 1973, rallied her fellow women players to threaten a boycott of that year's tournament unless women got the same pay as men.