Philadelphia Freedoms (1974) Dick and Ken Butera as a charter member of WTT in 1973. The team began play in WTT's inaugural 1974 season. The Freedoms played their home matches at the Spectrum. The centerpiece of the team was tennis legend Billie Jean King who served as its player-coach. King became the first woman to coach a professional sports team that included male players. Once King was signed on with the Freedoms, her good friend Elton John decided to write and record the song "Philadelphia Freedom" to wish her luck on her new venture with WTT and for the team to use as
Billie Jean King career statistics Virginia Wade, 2–0 versus Maria Bueno, 2–0 versus Ann Haydon-Jones, 2–0 versus Rosemary Casals, 1–0 versus Evonne Goolagong Cawley, 1–0 versus Françoise Dürr, 1–1 versus Margaret Court, 1–2 versus Chris Evert, 0–1 versus Christine Truman Janes, and 0–2 versus Nancy Richey Gunter. This was the first important singles title of King's career.<br> The world rankings in this table are from Lance Tingay of the London Daily Telegraph for 1959 through 1967 and from Bud Collins for 1968 through 1983.<br> Billie Jean King career statistics This is a list of the main career statistics of former tennis player Billie Jean King.