Billie Jean King announced as a special guest of the Australian Open in reunion with the Original 9

Billie Jean King will return as a special guest to the Australian Open and the AO Inspirational Series in January at Melbourne Park in January. 

The tennis legend, 79, will be joined in an emotional reunion by members of the Original 9, including Australians Judy Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid, and Americans Rosie Casals, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon and Valerie Bradshaw, reported the Herald Sun.

King said she is ‘excited’ to be reuniting with the group who famously split off from the tennis governing bodies in 1970 to form their own tour and advocate for better prize money for women’s tennis. 

The incredibly influential Virginia Slims Circuit was eventually formed into the worldwide Women’s Tennis Association Tour.  

‘I am so excited the Original 9 is reuniting in Melbourne and it will be especially fitting to celebrate Judy Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid in their homelands,’ King told the Herald Sun.

‘Australia has always been a very important part of my career and the months I spent training with the Aussies in 1964 helped me become the number one player in the world.’

The tennis legend will be joined in an emotional reunion by members of the Original 9, including Australians Judy Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid, and Americans Rosie Casals, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon and Valerie Bradshaw, reported the Herald Sun 

‘The place is special and there is a reason they call the AO the Happy Slam, because we always have a great time in Melbourne,’ she added.

King went on to say the Original 9 made women’s professional tennis what it is today. 

‘Every time a woman receives a cheque for any tennis tournament anywhere in the world, she can thank the Original 9,’ she said.

King said she is ‘excited’ to be reuniting with the group who famously split off from the tennis governing bodies in 1970 to form their own tour and advocate for better prize money for women’s tennis. Pictured at Wimbledon in 1970

King’s last appearance at the Australian Open was in 2018.   

She said her ‘favourite moment’ from the event was the evening she spent celebrating great Aussie tennis players at the Evonne Goolagong Foundation dinner in Kooyong.

Presenting the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup to the women’s champion alongside Chris O’Neill was another moment she fondly remembered.  

The incredibly influential Virginia Slims Circuit was eventually formed into the worldwide Women’s Tennis Association Tour. Pictured with her husband Larry in 1966