‘I’m going to tell the truth. Screw this!’ Billie Jean King at 82 on coming out, tearing up tennis – and her one big regret

She was the world No 1, whose fight for equal prize money changed women’s lives. As competitive as ever in her ninth decade, she discusses sexuality, tenacity and what it was like to finally graduate college this year

Every day, Billie Jean King tries to come up with a “gratitude list” in her head, identifying the people who have played a part in making her life so fulfilling. On the day we speak, the list includes her nephew and her wife, Ilana Kloss, who like her is a decorated former tennis player. And, as ever, Susan Williams, who was in King’s fifth grade class at school in Long Beach, California, when she was 11 years old.