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King, Billie Jean

(Encyclopedia)King, Billie Jean, 1943–, American tennis player, b. Long Beach, Calif., as Billie Jean Moffitt. King won 67 tournament titles and 20 Wimbledon titles, including singles in 1966–68, 1972–73, and...

Court, Margaret Smith

(Encyclopedia)Court, Margaret Smith, 1942–, Australian tennis player. Playing tennis from age eight, she rose to prominence in the early 1960s. Ranked first in world standings six times beginning in 1962, she ret...

Leonard, Bobby (Robert Leonard)

(Encyclopedia) Leonard, Bobby (Robert Leonard), 1932-2021, American basketball player and coach, b. Terre Haute, Ind. Leonard played basketball and tennis in high...

Kramer, Jack

(Encyclopedia)Kramer, Jack (John Albert Kramer), 1921–2009, American tennis player, b. Las Vegas, Nev. He excelled at tennis while still in high school. Kramer and Frederick (Ted) Schroeder won the U.S. national ...

Spassky, Boris

(Encyclopedia)Spassky, Boris, 1937–, Soviet chess champion. A child prodigy, he became an international master at the age of 16 and in 1955, at age 18, he became an international grand master. Subsequently in int...

Unser, Al

(Encyclopedia)Unser, Al (Alfred Unser, Sr.) ŭnˈsər [key] 1939–2021, American automobile racing driver, b. Albuquerque, ...

Vardon, Harry

(Encyclopedia)Vardon, Harry, 1870–1939, British golfer, b. Jersey. A former caddie, he became at 20 a professional golfer. He won six British Open championships (1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911, and 1914). Vardon, r...

Jones, Robert Tyre, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Robert Tyre, Jr. (Bobby Jones), 1902–71, American golfer, b. Atlanta, Ga. A lawyer, he became a golf devotee. Jones won the National Open (1923, 1926, 1929–30), the National Amateur (1924�...

Nicklaus, Jack William

(Encyclopedia)Nicklaus, Jack William, 1940–, American golfer, b. Columbus, Ohio. He began playing golf at the age of 10 and before becoming a professional in late 1961 was considered by many the greatest amateur ...

Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich

(Encyclopedia)Korchnoi, Viktor Lvovich vyēkˈtər ləvôvˈyĭch kôrchˈnoi [key], 1931–2016, Russian-Swiss chess master. A long-time leading Soviet player, he lost to Anatoly Karpov in 1974, competing for the ...

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