When players walk out into Arthur Ashe Stadium at the US Open, they are greeted by an iconic quote from American legend Billie Jean King: "Pressure is a privilege."
The fitting phrase prepares competitors for the bright lights of New York's center stage, reminding them that they earned the right to play under the stresses of Grand Slam tennis at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
This week on X, formerly known as Twitter, King explained the impromptu origin of one of her trademark lines. It all came about during the final of the 2000 Fed Cup—the "World Cup of tennis" that is now known as the Billie Jean King Cup.
King was captaining the United States team, an all-star squad that included Lindsay Davenport, Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and Lisa Raymond. Davenport was preparing to face former world No. 1 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, an opponent who always gave her trouble... and the 1998 US Open champion was on edge.
"We're in Las Vegas. Lindsay Davenport walks up to me and she's not happy." King explained. "She looks down at me, because she's 6' 3'', and I'm looking up at her. And she goes, 'Just say something!'
"And I went, 'Pressure is a privilege, and champions adjust.' It just came out of my mouth like that. I never even thought of it, but I loved it."
The words of wisdom hit home, and a then 24-year-old Davenport went on to beat her Spanish opponent, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3. Captain King's U.S. team would go on to sweep Spain, 5-0, to complete a successful Fed Cup title defense.
In her video post, King said she doubted that Davenport remembers their pre-match exchange. But Davenport, who was named the new U.S. Billie Jean King Cup captain in September, chimed in to correct the record.
"Of course I remember Billie," she replied on X. "But seriously, Billie changed everything for me in believing in me when I didn't yet beleive in myself. She changed my life."
