Bille Jean Keeps After Martina to Keep After Reigning Queen

Billie Jean King never gives anybody or anything the back of her hand, except an occasional Wilson or Dunlop. She hurls herself wholeheartedly into everything she does, the same way she volleyed and rallied and smashed and lobbed her way to a record 20 Wimbledon titles, in singles, doubles and mixed doubles, not to mention just about every other tennis trophy a woman can win.

She recollects the exact day--May 11 of last year--when she was asked to start working with Martina Navratilova, coaching her, advising her, helping Craig Karton steer her game in the proper direction, give her whatever tips she had to overtake Steffi Graf and to keep from being overtaken by any of the other young wonders gripping rackets all over the globe.

“Why are you playing tennis?” was the first thing King asked.

While Navratilova considered the question, King kept after her, trying, as ever, to win a point.

“Why are you still here?” she asked.

Billie Jean recalls Martina saying she didn’t really know. No longer at the absolute height of her career but certainly at a lofty height regardless, Navratilova acknowledged that she wasn’t sure what she wanted anymore, whether tennis could still be fun when one is no longer No. 1.

So, she gave her new coach a candid answer. She said: “I don’t know.”

“Go away,” King said.

“What?”

“Go away,” she repeated. “You decide. It’s absolutely vital for you to understand why you’re still playing tennis. And, it’s every bit as important that you don’t let anybody else decide for you. Be independent. Make up your own mind. Why are you still playing? What is it you want to do?”

This is generally how King recalled the dialogue, as she took a break from preparation for the Virginia Slims of Indian Wells, which begins Monday and runs all week at the Hyatt Grand Champions resort. King is working with the top-seeded Navratilova. She also will play in pro-celebrity matches next Saturday and Sunday, and is being honored with a ceremony and dinner, for contributions to the game. It’ll be a dinner fit for a . . . oh, you know.

Shortly thereafter, Billie Jean, who takes a day off every decade or two, will be partnered in a Slims doubles event in Florida with Jennifer Capriati, who is just now beginning her doubles career. Nicknames for this team figure to abound, Capriati being 13 years old, and King being, well, King being . . .

“Go ahead, say it. Old enough to be her grandmother.”

Sorry, B.J.

“I am older than her mother, you know. I told Jennifer that the other day.”

And?

“She just giggled.”

For the kid, tennis is still as much fun as it is business. King likes that. That’s what she has been trying to impart to Navratilova, that when tennis stops being fun, stop playing. Stop playing for money, at least. Kick back. Recharge. Know what’s in your heart and mind. That’s what any player, young or comparatively old, needs to ask himself or herself.

“When I quit, got off the Slims circuit, six years ago, I was 39, I was sick of training, I was sick of watching every calorie, I was sick of looking at the weight room, sick of going through the grind,” King said. “I had to do what was right for me. Chris just went through the same thing.

“Martina’s had down times. She’s had times where I’m pretty sure she wanted to chuck it all. Every little voice inside your head tells you to quit if you can’t be No. 1. Chris felt that when Martina came along. I’d say: ‘Chris, if you were the second-best-selling author in the world, would you stop writing books? If you were the second-best doctor, would you quit? The second-best lawyer?’ She’d say: ‘No way.’

“Of course you wouldn’t. And Martina’s no quitter, either. Only she’s always been the type to get wherever she’s going through sheer hard work. Like most great athletes, her emotional side tells her to work harder, work harder. Well, maybe she needs to work softer. Learn to be more patient. Pace herself more. It’s just a theory. It’s what she needs me and Craig to help her to find out.”

So, King keeps the questions coming.

“I ask: ‘Are you as fast as Graf?’ And she says: ‘No way.’ I ask: ‘How’s your vertical jump?’ She says: ‘Not as good as it used to be.’ It’s a continuous process. You find areas that need work. Then you work on them or compensate. I think Martina’s only lost twice to Graf since May 11, since I started coaching her. That makes me feel pretty darned good.”

Now that Graf has a thumb injury, the chances of Navratilova winning the majors again, the French Open and Wimbledon and such, might be enhanced. King doesn’t want to hear about it, though. Start thinking about Graf’s status, she emphasizes, and pretty soon somebody else will pop up to surprise you.

Above all, says Billie Jean, remember to have fun. Says Billie Jean, as she sits at courtside stocked with Maalox and Pepto-Bismol tablets. Says Billie Jean, as she hops on planes and promotes team tennis and plays exhibitions and drives herself, same way she always has.

“You’re right,” she said. “When you’re right, you’re right. I’ve got to start making time for myself. I’ve always been end-result oriented. I forget to take time to read, to go to the ballet, to take a break. Life’s an ongoing process. We never stop learning. I guess maybe I need somebody to coach me. “