"Dear Billie Jean King, you are an icon, a legend, a superstar. In 50 years, you have revolutionized international sport, but also equality between women and men and the rights of minorities throughout the world", said the president during a ceremony at the Elysée.
"Your story is an American dream, one of those destinies that are almost too good to be true and inspired Hollywood" ("Battle of the Sexes" - 2017), he added.
Nicknamed "BJK" and considered one of the greatest players of all time, Billie Jean King has won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, including six Wimbledon titles.
She is equally known for her commitment to women's and LGBT rights.
First married to lawyer Larry King, she was the first high-level international sportswoman to reveal her homosexuality in 1981.
"It was a very difficult moment, but I told the truth. And I lost all my sponsors overnight," she recalled on France 5 on Tuesday.
On September 20, 1973, she challenged on the court Bobby Riggs, world number one in the mid-1940s and renowned for his macho speeches, and won.
She won Roland-Garros once, in 1972, 50 years ago.
The Parisian tournament broadcast a tribute video on Thursday, where player Martina Navratilova "thanks her for everything (she) has done for women's tennis".
"You really were a pioneer for tennis, for women, for fighting, for everything," also praised the Italian Francesca Schiavone.
"What a magnificent tribute. Thank you", replied Friday on Twitter "BJK", a tireless defender of "inclusion" including in tennis.
© 2022 AFP