Serena Williams Honored to Tie Billie Jean King

Serena Williamss' triumph this week over Justine Henin gave the tennis great her fifth Australian Open title and a 12th grand-slam singles win, tying her mentor Billie Jean King on the all-time list of grand-slam winners.

"I feel really special that I was able to tie Billie Jean King," Williams told the BBC after her win. "In my heart of hearts, I've been going for it and I haven't been able to quite achieve it.

"Billie Jean is a really big mentor of mine. She was a Fed Cup coach at one time, which was super cool. We had so much fun."

King was in the crowd supporting Williams for the match.

King made headlines in 1998 when she came out of the closet. In 2000 she served as the first openly gay coach of the United States women's tennis team.