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

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 to never stop fighting to maintain that hard-won progress. “Our work is far from done,” King said in a speech to a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd between matches in the night session. 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 not to play in that year’s tournament unless women got the same pay as men.