Philadelphia Freedom (song) honour Billie Jean King, and so asked Taupin to write a song called "Philadelphia Freedom" as a homage to her tennis team, the Philadelphia Freedoms. In "His Song: The Musical History of Elton John", Elizabeth Rosenthal recounts that Taupin said, "I can't write a song about tennis," and did not. Taupin maintains that the lyrics bear no relation to tennis, Philly Soul, or even flag-waving patriotism. Nonetheless, the lyrics have been interpreted as patriotic and uplifting, and even though it was released in 1975, the song's sentiment, intentionally or not, meshed perfectly with an American music audience gearing up for
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center All 33 courts have used the DecoTurf cushioned acrylic surface since the facility was built in 1978. Near Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, and LaGuardia Airport, the tennis center is open to the public for play except during the US Open, junior and wood-racquet competitions. Formerly called the USTA National Tennis Center, the facility was rededicated for Billie Jean King on August 28, 2006. The idea of the tennis center came about in January 1977, when William Hester, the then-incoming president of the USTA, saw the underused Singer Bowl on a flight into nearby LaGuardia Airport. He