The U. S. Tennis Association announced it will rename the USTA National Tennis Center to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Her name will thus stand beside that of another barrier breaker, Arthur Ashe, for whom the Center’s largest stadium is named. The New York Times reports that Ashe’s widow, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, said of King’s honor: “Any time a woman one-ups a man, I’m all for it. That’s my chauvinistic side talking. I couldn’t be more thrilled.”
The USTA is renaming their center at potentially great cost, and not just because they’ll have to change their letterhead. According to the New York Times, they are giving up $4 million to $5 million annually that they could get by naming the Center after a corporate sponsor. They are hoping the new name “will raise its profile as a public park and help the center educate young players about her career and societal impact.”
A well deserved honor for King, and an admirable goal for the USTA.
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