The Battle of the Sexes
Encyclopedia
The Battle of the Sexes is a title given to three notable tennis
matches between a male and a female player. The first match was between Bobby Riggs
and Margaret Court, over the best of three sets. The second was a nationally televised match between Riggs and Billie Jean King
, over the best of five sets. The Riggs v King match was officially dubbed The Battle of the Sexes. The final match was between Jimmy Connors
and Martina Navratilova, over the best of three sets and hybrid rules favouring the female player, which was dubbed The Battle of Champions.
match in Ramona, California
, Riggs used his drop shot
s and lobs
to keep Court off balance. His 6–2, 6–1 victory landed Riggs on the cover of both Sports Illustrated
and Time
magazine.
on September 20, 1973. Bobby Riggs did an interview for 60 Minutes
in the build up to the event.
Shortly before the match, King entered the Astrodome in Cleopatra
style, carried aloft in a chair held by four bare-chested muscle men dressed in the garb of ancient slaves. Riggs followed in a rickshaw drawn by a bevy of scantily-clad models. Riggs presented King with a giant lollypop and she gave him a piglet named Larimore Hustle. When the match began, King had learned from Court's humiliation and was ready for Riggs's game. Rather than playing her own usual aggressive game, she mostly hugged the baseline, easily handling Riggs's lobs and soft shots, making Riggs cover the entire court as she ran him from side to side, and beating him at his own defensive game. After quickly falling behind from the baseline, where he had intended to play, Riggs was forced to change to a serve-and-volley game. Even from the net, the result was the same: King defeated him, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3.
A few critics were less than impressed by King's victory. King was 26 years younger, and some experts claimed that it was more an age versus youth game. According to Jack Kramer, "I don't think Billie Jean played all that well. She hit a lot of short balls which Bobby could have taken advantage of had he been in shape. I would never take anything away from Billie Jean — because she was smart enough to prepare herself properly — but it might have been different if Riggs hadn't kept running around. It was more than one woman who took care of Bobby Riggs in Houston." Before the match, however, King had forced the American television network ABC
to drop Kramer as a commentator. King said, "He doesn't believe in women's tennis. Why should he be part of this match? He doesn't believe in half of the match. I'm not playing. Either he goes – or I go." After the match, Pancho Segura
declared that Riggs was only the third best senior player, behind himself and Gardnar Mulloy
, and challenged King to another match. King refused.
on clay." Selena Roberts claims in her book documenting the match, A Necessary Spectacle, that Riggs later undertook a public lie detector test to prove he did not throw the match.
In recent years, a persistent urban legend
has arisen, particularly on the Internet
, that the rules were modified for the match so that Riggs had only one serve for King's two, and that King was allowed to hit into the doubles court area. This is false: the match was played under the normal rules of tennis. These rules were applied to the Connors v Navratilova match in 1992, which may have contributed to the confusion.
Nearly thirty years later, a 2001 ABC
television docudrama entitled When Billie Beat Bobby
recounted the match and the lead-up to it.
, at the time a top-twenty player, to launch another challenge to female players. He challenged Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver
to a doubles match. Navratilova said that she accepted because she believed she and Pam had no weaknesses when playing doubles, and that they were going to 'do a Billie' and win, especially given Riggs' age. The match took place at The Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey
. Riggs' health had deteriorated somewhat from his last outing as he was now deaf and wore glasses. Moreover, because Riggs was a finesse player and not a power player, the women expected that defeating him would be easier than a retired power player. Riggs' return was short lived when the women won 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Mike Penner
(of The Los Angeles Times
) wrote: "The great misconception about "The Challenge!" was that it might actually serve as a legitimate proving ground for the sexes." The sports writer went on to point out that there were a couple things keeping this match from being seriously looked at as a legitimate challenge. "First, it was a doubles match, not a one-on-one competition. The strategy is different in doubles, weaknesses can be more easily masked and stamina is not nearly so critical a factor." The other point to be made: "Riggs amounted to a 67-year-old ball-and-chain shackled to the ankle of Gerulaitis. Riggs couldn't serve, couldn't return serves, couldn't hit overheads with any amount of force. Older than the combined ages of Navratilova and Shriver, Riggs was painfully out of place in this match. Even John McEnroe
, on his finest day, would be an underdog against Navratilova and Shriver if Riggs were his partner."
in Las Vegas, Nevada
, in September 1992 between Jimmy Connors
and Martina Navratilova. Navratilova had previously turned down invites to take on John McEnroe
and Ilie Năstase
, as she considered them undignified. Connors said before the match that this was 'war.' Navratilova, on the other hand, said this was a battle of egos. For this match, Connors was allowed only one serve per point, and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won 7–5, 6–2. The match was on PPV, and the promoters were hoping to get the match as a battle of the world's number ones, Connors and Monica Seles
. Seles was 19 at the time, whilst Connors and Navratilova were 40 and 35, respectively. Navratilova made 8 double faults and 36 unforced errors. Connors, too, was nervous as apparently he had bet on himself to win at 4:1 and had placed a large amount of cash on it.
took on Venus Williams
and beat her 6-2. He also played Serena Williams
and won 6-1 after the Williams sisters, who were 17 and 16 at the time, said they could beat any man ranked 200 or worse. Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance" as he claimed he had played like someone ranked 600 in order to keep the game "fun." Yannick Noah
and Justine Henin also went toe to toe in a match. The Frenchman won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
matches between a male and a female player. The first match was between Bobby Riggs
Bobby Riggs
Robert Larimore "Bobby" Riggs was a 1930s–40s tennis player who was the World No. 1 or the co-World No. 1 player for three years, first as an amateur in 1941, then as a professional in 1946 and 1947...
and Margaret Court, over the best of three sets. The second was a nationally televised match between Riggs and Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...
, over the best of five sets. The Riggs v King match was officially dubbed The Battle of the Sexes. The final match was between Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
and Martina Navratilova, over the best of three sets and hybrid rules favouring the female player, which was dubbed The Battle of Champions.
Riggs v Court
A master promoter of himself and of tennis, Riggs saw an opportunity in 1973 to make money and to elevate the popularity of a sport he loved. Although 55 years old at the time, he is reputed to have played the male chauvinist card, coming out of retirement to challenge one of the world's greatest female players to a match, claiming that the female game was inferior and that a top female player could not beat him even at the age of 55. Riggs first challenged King but when she declined, Court stepped in. At the time Court was 30 years old and the top female player in the world. In their May 13, 1973, Mother's DayMother's Day
Mother's Day is a celebration honoring mothers and celebrating motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, yet most commonly in March, April, or May...
match in Ramona, California
Ramona, California
Ramona is a census-designated place in San Diego County, California. The population was 20,292 at the 2010 census.The term Ramona also refers to an unincorporated community that includes both the Ramona CDP and the adjacent CDP of San Diego Country Estates CDP...
, Riggs used his drop shot
Drop shot
A drop shot in tennis is slicing, putting a backspin on the ball just over the net. A good drop shot travels such that the opponent is unable to run fast enough to retrieve it....
s and lobs
Lob (tennis)
A lob in tennis is hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court. It can be used as an offensive or defensive weapon depending on the situation.-History:...
to keep Court off balance. His 6–2, 6–1 victory landed Riggs on the cover of both Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
and Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine.
Riggs v King
Suddenly in the national limelight, following his win over Court, Riggs taunted all female tennis players, prompting King to accept a lucrative financial offer to play Riggs in a nationally televised match that the promoters dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes". The match was held in Houston, TexasTexas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
on September 20, 1973. Bobby Riggs did an interview for 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
in the build up to the event.
Shortly before the match, King entered the Astrodome in Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII of Egypt
Cleopatra VII Philopator was the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.She was a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, a family of Greek origin that ruled Egypt after Alexander the Great's death during the Hellenistic period...
style, carried aloft in a chair held by four bare-chested muscle men dressed in the garb of ancient slaves. Riggs followed in a rickshaw drawn by a bevy of scantily-clad models. Riggs presented King with a giant lollypop and she gave him a piglet named Larimore Hustle. When the match began, King had learned from Court's humiliation and was ready for Riggs's game. Rather than playing her own usual aggressive game, she mostly hugged the baseline, easily handling Riggs's lobs and soft shots, making Riggs cover the entire court as she ran him from side to side, and beating him at his own defensive game. After quickly falling behind from the baseline, where he had intended to play, Riggs was forced to change to a serve-and-volley game. Even from the net, the result was the same: King defeated him, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3.
A few critics were less than impressed by King's victory. King was 26 years younger, and some experts claimed that it was more an age versus youth game. According to Jack Kramer, "I don't think Billie Jean played all that well. She hit a lot of short balls which Bobby could have taken advantage of had he been in shape. I would never take anything away from Billie Jean — because she was smart enough to prepare herself properly — but it might have been different if Riggs hadn't kept running around. It was more than one woman who took care of Bobby Riggs in Houston." Before the match, however, King had forced the American television network ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
to drop Kramer as a commentator. King said, "He doesn't believe in women's tennis. Why should he be part of this match? He doesn't believe in half of the match. I'm not playing. Either he goes – or I go." After the match, Pancho Segura
Pancho Segura
Pancho Segura, born Francisco Olegario Segura , was a leading tennis player of the 1940s and 1950s, both as an amateur and as a professional. In 1950 and 1952, as a professional, he was the World Co-No. 1 player...
declared that Riggs was only the third best senior player, behind himself and Gardnar Mulloy
Gardnar Mulloy
Gardnar Putnam Mulloy is a tennis player primarily known for playing in doubles matches with partner Billy Talbert. When he was the Tennis Coach of the University of Miami, he recruited Pancho Segura for the tennis team. Pancho won three straight NCAA Singles Titles in 1943, 1944, and 1945,...
, and challenged King to another match. King refused.
Legacy
There was also widespread speculation that Riggs had purposely lost, in order to win large sums of money that he had bet against himself. As Kramer writes, however, "Billie Jean beat him fair and square. A lot of men — especially around our age — were so stunned when he lost that they figured he must have tanked. Budge is convinced of that. But what motive would Riggs have for that? Bobby Riggs, the biggest ham in the world, gets his greatest audience — and purposely looks bad? There's no way. If he had beaten Billie Jean, he could have kept the act going indefinitely. Next they would have had him play ChrissyChris Evert
Christine Marie "Chris" Evert is a former world number 1 professional tennis player from the United States. She won 18 Grand Slam singles championships, including a record seven championships at the French Open and a record six championships at the U.S. Open. She was the year-ending World No...
on clay." Selena Roberts claims in her book documenting the match, A Necessary Spectacle, that Riggs later undertook a public lie detector test to prove he did not throw the match.
In recent years, a persistent urban legend
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
has arisen, particularly on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, that the rules were modified for the match so that Riggs had only one serve for King's two, and that King was allowed to hit into the doubles court area. This is false: the match was played under the normal rules of tennis. These rules were applied to the Connors v Navratilova match in 1992, which may have contributed to the confusion.
Nearly thirty years later, a 2001 ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television docudrama entitled When Billie Beat Bobby
When Billie Beat Bobby
When Billie Beat Bobby is a 2001 ABC docudrama detailing the historic 1973 "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs and what lead up to it. The match was filmed at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California....
recounted the match and the lead-up to it.
Popular culture
- In season 4 episode 10 (original air date: 11/16/1973), entitled "The Pig Who Came to Dinner", of the comedy television series The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple (TV series)The Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
, Bobby Riggs is the main guest star who bets with character Oscar Madison and wins. In an effort to reclaim their belongings, Oscar and his roommate, Felix Unger, challenge Bobby to a ping-pong match, two against one, while wearing Billie Jean King masks to intimidate him. Billie Jean King makes an appearance near the end of the show, and beats Bobby.
- A 2008 television commercial in the United States for GEICOGEICOThe Government Employees Insurance Company is an auto insurance company. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway that as of 2007 provided coverage for more than 10 million motor vehicles owned by more than 9 million policy holders. GEICO writes private passenger automobile insurance...
alludes to the Battle of the Sexes by constructing another Battle of the Sexes tennis match between Billie Jean King and one of their GEICO CavemenGEICO CavemenThe GEICO Cavemen are trademarked characters of GEICO in a series of television advertisements for the auto insurance company GEICO, that have aired from 2004 to present. The campaign was created by Joe Lawson of The Martin Agency. In 2004, GEICO began an advertising campaign featuring...
characters. The Billie Jean versus caveman match is scored 6-0, 6-0, 5-0 when the protagonist realizes that the event is sponsored by GEICO and leaves the court.
Battle of the Sexes: The Challenge! (doubles)
On 23 August, 1985, at age 67, Riggs returned to the tennis spotlight when he partnered with Vitas GerulaitisVitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was a Lithuanian–American professional tennis player. He is known for winning the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis won the tournament held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament...
, at the time a top-twenty player, to launch another challenge to female players. He challenged Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver
Pam Shriver
Pamela Howard Shriver Lazenby , is a former professional tennis player and is currently a sports broadcaster from the United States for ESPN2. During the 1980s and 1990s, she won 133 top-level titles, including 21 women's doubles titles and one mixed doubles title at Grand Slam tournaments...
to a doubles match. Navratilova said that she accepted because she believed she and Pam had no weaknesses when playing doubles, and that they were going to 'do a Billie' and win, especially given Riggs' age. The match took place at The Atlantic City Convention Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. Riggs' health had deteriorated somewhat from his last outing as he was now deaf and wore glasses. Moreover, because Riggs was a finesse player and not a power player, the women expected that defeating him would be easier than a retired power player. Riggs' return was short lived when the women won 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Mike Penner
Mike Penner
Mike Penner was a sports writer for the Los Angeles Times. Penner self-identified as being a transsexual in a 2007 column and returned from a vacation writing with the name Christine Daniels, before resuming his original name in 2008 and then committing suicide in 2009 .-Early life and...
(of The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
) wrote: "The great misconception about "The Challenge!" was that it might actually serve as a legitimate proving ground for the sexes." The sports writer went on to point out that there were a couple things keeping this match from being seriously looked at as a legitimate challenge. "First, it was a doubles match, not a one-on-one competition. The strategy is different in doubles, weaknesses can be more easily masked and stamina is not nearly so critical a factor." The other point to be made: "Riggs amounted to a 67-year-old ball-and-chain shackled to the ankle of Gerulaitis. Riggs couldn't serve, couldn't return serves, couldn't hit overheads with any amount of force. Older than the combined ages of Navratilova and Shriver, Riggs was painfully out of place in this match. Even John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
, on his finest day, would be an underdog against Navratilova and Shriver if Riggs were his partner."
Navratilova v Connors
A third "Battle of the Sexes" match, entitled Battle of Champions, was played at Caesars PalaceCaesars Palace
Caesars Palace is a luxury hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, an unincorporated township in Clark County, Nevada, United States in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Caesars Palace is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corp....
in Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, in September 1992 between Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
and Martina Navratilova. Navratilova had previously turned down invites to take on John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
and Ilie Năstase
Ilie Nastase
Ilie Nastase is a Romanian former professional tennis player, one of the world's top players of the 1970s. Năstase was the World No. 1 tennis player between 1973 and 1974 . He is one of the five players in history to win more than 100 ATP professional titles . He was inducted into the...
, as she considered them undignified. Connors said before the match that this was 'war.' Navratilova, on the other hand, said this was a battle of egos. For this match, Connors was allowed only one serve per point, and Navratilova was allowed to hit into half the doubles court. Connors won 7–5, 6–2. The match was on PPV, and the promoters were hoping to get the match as a battle of the world's number ones, Connors and Monica Seles
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. She was born in Novi Sad, Serbia, former Yugoslavia to Hungarian parents. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994 and also received Hungarian citizenship in June 2007...
. Seles was 19 at the time, whilst Connors and Navratilova were 40 and 35, respectively. Navratilova made 8 double faults and 36 unforced errors. Connors, too, was nervous as apparently he had bet on himself to win at 4:1 and had placed a large amount of cash on it.
Other Battles of the Sexes
In 1998, 203rd ranked male player Karsten BraaschKarsten Braasch
Karsten Braasch is a professional German tennis player. His highest ATP singles ranking is 38th, which he reached on 13 June 1994. His career high in doubles was at 36 set at 10 November 1997...
took on Venus Williams
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player who is a former World No. 1 and is ranked World No. 101 as of 10 October 2011 in singles and World No. 20 in doubles as of 2011. She has been ranked World No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate...
and beat her 6-2. He also played Serena Williams
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and a former world no. 1. The Women's Tennis Association has ranked her world no. 1 in singles on five separate occasions. She became the world no. 1 for the first time on July 8, 2002 and regained this ranking for the fifth time on...
and won 6-1 after the Williams sisters, who were 17 and 16 at the time, said they could beat any man ranked 200 or worse. Braasch said afterwards, "500 and above, no chance" as he claimed he had played like someone ranked 600 in order to keep the game "fun." Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah
Yannick Noah is a former professional tennis player from France. He is best remembered for being the last French man to win the French Open in 1983, and as a highly-successful captain of France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup teams...
and Justine Henin also went toe to toe in a match. The Frenchman won 4-6, 6-4, 7-6.