The ITF's Katrina Adams stays on the front lines for women with the Tory Burch Foundation Sports Fellowship

Billie Jean King commemorated the 49th anniversary of her victorious Battle of the Sexes match against Bobby Riggs on Twitter and Instagram—and is already looking ahead to next year’s 50th.

“The Battle of the Sexes was about much more than tennis,” King remarked Tuesday morning. “It was about equality & social change.”

It was on September 20, 1973 that King defeated Riggs at the Houston Astrodome, drawing a record tennis-viewing crowd of 30,472. The televised broadcast drew even bigger numbers, an estimated 90 million worldwide.

The Battle of the Sexes was about much more than tennis.

It was about equality & social change.

49 years ago today, Bobby Riggs and I played in the Houston Astrodome in front of a global audience of 90M.

The world was watching.

2023 will be a big year.

📷: Bill Schoen pic.twitter.com/mHrv7NvbdC
— Billie Jean King (@BillieJeanKing) September 20, 2022

The match launched the Women’s Tennis Association into a new stratosphere, paving the way for equal prize money for men and women at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

"Every time we see the youngsters having this life, this was our dream for them,” King said in 2017, the same year Battle of the Sexes, a film adaptation of the match starring Emma Stone and Steve Carrell, was released in theaters. “They are living our dream.”

King celebrated the 50 years since the Original 9 launched the Virginia Slims Circuit back in 2020, and is clearly keen for the Battle of the Sexes’ golden anniversary next year.

“2023 will be a big year,” King wrote.

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Billie Jean King reflects on 49th anniversary of Battle of the Sexes

WATCH: King continues to be a pioneer for gender equality in sports, dating back to her spearheading of the Original 9 in 1970.

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