We're returning to tennis now for another woman who made history, although she took a different route to it than Martina Navratilova or Billie Jean King. She was born as 'Richard Richards' (for which I'm sure she thanked her parents) in 1934, but always struggled with her gender identity. After living - and marrying - as a man, she opted to have gender reassignment surgery. After that, in her early 40s, she entered professional tennis as a woman.
Unsurprisingly given the time she lived in, this prompted controversy. She had to take the organizers of the US Open to court in order to gain entry to the tournament, which she entered in 1977 and then appeared in each year for the next four years, albeit never progressing past the third round. She went on to serve as a coach for Navratilova, helping to shape her into arguably the best female tennis player of all time.