Billie Jean King played a key role in Serena Williams’ rise to dominance on the court. 24 years ago Serena couldn’t qualify for the singles event at the Sydney Olympics, despite winning the US Open a year before. But she managed to qualify for the doubles with her sister Venus and under the tutelage of King they won gold. Serena has been thankful to King for the impact she made in her career, so when she showed up at the men’s tennis final in Paris, Billie Jean took the opportunity to reminisce about the success they had together.

King has often been full of praise for Williams in the past and hailed her for the impact she has had on women’s tennis. As the former mentor and mentee caught up courtside, King shared her delight.

Billie Jean King took to Instagram after Djokovi’s thrilling win, to share the moment with her massive 1.6 million followers. Posting a selfie with her wife Ilana Kloss and Serena Williams, King added a caption, “Reunited at the Olympics! It was such a privilege to coach the Team USA women’s tennis team at the 2000 Sydney Games, when Serena and Venus Williams won their first medals (Gold in Doubles). They would go on to win Doubles Gold again in 2008 and 2012.”

King reprised her role as U.S. women’s tennis coach in 2000, following her success in the 1996 Atlanta Games, which saw the team sweep the gold medals. In Sydney too, they repeated the feat with King in charge.

In her illustrious career, Williams collected four gold medals and it all began in 2000, when coached by Billie Jean King, she and her sister brought gold home.

The Sydney Games marked an unforgettable milestone for the Williams sisters. Serena and Venus, building their name back then, won the Women’s Doubles final by defeating the Netherlands’ Kristie Boogert and Miriam Oremans with an impressive 6–1, 6–1 scoreline. This victory laid the foundation of their remarkable journey as the Williams sisters didn’t look back.

Serena has often made sure to credit Billie Jean for her contributions to her career, especially during the 2000 Olympics. Speaking on Wilson Tennis in 2o22, Williams mentioned that Sydney was the “best Olympics of her life.” She then mentioned how King was instrumental in her success.

“Billie was the best captain hands down. I learned so much from Billie and it definitely helped. I remember it being pivotal in my career,” she said.

The Williams sisters were rewarded with two more Olympic gold medals in Beijing and London and they would go on to win 10 more Grand Slams after the 2000 Games. Serena’s singles career also skyrocketed. Following the Sydney Olympics, she would win five singles Grand Slams in the next three years. This included an incredible three majors in 2002, as she won Wimbledon, the French Open, and the U.S. Open.

During the conversation, the 23-time Grand Slam winner also revealed how she carried King’s valuable advice throughout her career and how it came to her mind ahead of the 2022 U.S. Open.

“Even today, I’m not kidding, I was hitting out and I was like, ‘You gotta no move your feet, you gotta move your feet,’ because you (King) were like, ‘You can’t just hit over it. You have to move. You can’t be still.’ I’ll never forget that,” Williams added.

King has always been an avid supporter of Serena and made a bold prediction in 2012 when Serena won gold in singles by defeating Maria Sharapova.

“Serena will go down in history as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She’s a true champion and a great role model for women and girls around the world,” she said. King’s prediction turned out to be true as Serena ended her career with the most career grand slams in the Open Era.

Jean King has long been an admirer of Serena Williams and back in 2020 shared another nostalgic moment on Facebook with the tennis icon.

King celebrates the anniversary of meeting Serena Williams for the first time

Billie Jean King has always managed to be good at remembering dates. Besides recalling the glorious moment from the year 2000, she has also pinpointed the date when she met Serena Williams for the first time in her life. Sharing the story and a glimpse of her initial meeting with the WTA legend, King shared a post on her Facebook account back in 2020.

“I first met Venus Williams and Serena Williams 32 years ago today, on April 30, 1988, at a Domino’s Pizza World TeamTennis clinic Long Beach City. They were as impressive then as they are now,” she wrote, revealing how time flies but the people and their talent grow. She also added details about the black-and-white picture, mentioning, “

: Carol Newsom, taken at our second meeting, 1992, with Rosie Casals.”

Billie Jean King has tracked the epic journey of both Venus and Serena Williams right from their early days on the court and her recent trip down the memory lane highlights how much she values the bond she shares with them.