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Billie Jean King Reveals Big 3 Favorite


Billie Jean King is not only one of tennis' greatest champions—she's a devoted tennis fan.

King, like fans all over the world, has a clear view on Big 3 hierarchy.

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Hall of Famer King, who won an astounding 39 Grand Slam championships overall, has immense respect for each Big 3 champion, but one holds a special place in her heart: Rafael Nadal.

In an interview with AS.com's Nacho Albarrán conducted during last weekend's Billie Jean King Cup finals in Prague, King says Novak Djokovic will win the most major titles of the Big 3, cites Roger Federer as the most elegant of the three icons and chooses Nadal as her favorite because of the passion he competes with on court. King believes Nadal is the Big 3 champion most influential on junior players.

"I love Nadal. Ilana [Kloss] and I met him when he must have been 14 or 15, in South Africa," King told AS.com. "I don't think he remembers, but we do, because they said he was the child with the greatest potential. So we went, we saw him and we thought, 'Oh my God, this guy is so good.'

"So I love watching him play. What I like most about him is how much he respects tennis and how he gets angry when other players don't respect him. That's why kids want to be like him more than everyone else when asked and say Nadal is their favorite. In that he is number one."

King, who won 20 Wimbledon titles overall, calls Federer the most beautiful Big 3 champion, says Djokovic will be the biggest winner of the trio, but suggests she bonds most with Nadal because of "those values."  

"The older ones stay more with Federer, because of his elegance, because the way he hits the ball and dances on the court is beautiful. But Nadal has those values and is more earthly," King said. "I think Djokovic is going to be the best in titles, because when Nadal and Federer competed they hurt each other in that regard.

"Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert would have won 40 Grand Slams if one of them had not been on the board."




The 34-year-old Djokovic captured his record 37th Masters 1000 crown in Paris on Sunday. King suggests Djokovic can be the most effective agent for change in the sport because of his intelligence and the fact he's most willing to speak out on issues.

"Djokovic is unique and different. He is very intelligent and more frontal about the change than the other two," King said. "I wish they weren't so sure, that they talked more off the track, because it has to be done.

"Federer once spoke out for the players' association to stay together, and it was great, but there's still a lot of work ahead."

In addition to her work as a civil rights warrior, King has a successful track record predicting championship careers. Back in July, 2010 after Serena Williams captured her 13th Grand Slam title, King told Tennis Now Williams would break the major marks of Evert, Navratilova and Steffi Graf in a prediction that proved prophetic.

Photo credit: Billie Jean King Twitter

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