Because it turns out the infamous battle of the sexes—in which the 30-year-old King routed the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs—wasn't a legit match.
Sonny Bunch is executive editor of, and film critic for, the Washington Free Beacon. The best of The Straight Dope, delivered to your inbox. Send questions to Cecil via cecil@straightdope.com. The match had an estimated audience of 50 million in the U.S. and 90 million worldwide on TV, alongside the 30,472 in the Houston Astrodome. "Riggs had assured him that the fix would be in — he would beat Margaret Court and then he would go in the tank" against King, but Riggs pledged he'd "make it appear that it was on the up and up." Riggs presented King with a giant Sugar Daddy lollipop, while she gave him a squealing piglet, thought to be symbolic of his male chauvinism. The match took place in Ramona, California on Mother’s Day, 13th May 1973. Actualizado a 13-04-2016 17:54. Years ago I watched on TV the "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King. We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. The architect of the manufactured drama in tennis that year was Bobby Riggs, who’d been a number-one-ranked singles player in the 1940s but at age 55 was well past his prime. Having won the match, King often stated she saw the match as more than just a publicity stunt, arguing that beating Riggs was important for both women’s tennis and for the women’s liberation movement in general; “I thought it would set us back 50 years if I didn’t win that match. Despite losing much of his career to World War II, Riggs was the World No.1 or the World co-No.1 tennis player for three years, first as an amateur in 1939, then as a professional in 1946 and 1947. What is the origin of the song “There’s a place in France/Where the naked ladies dance?” Are bay leaves poisonous. His strategy worked, and their match on Mother’s Day, 1973, became known as the “Mother’s Day Massacre,” with Riggs dominating the best-of-three-sets event 6-2, 6-1. Whereas he trained long and hard for the exhibition against Court, he slacked off before going to battle with Billie Jean.

The true story of the 1973 tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King and ex-champ and serial hustler Bobby Riggs. No, I don’t mean 2008, I mean 1973. Check out the trailer below. "Mr. Ragano was emphatic," Shaw recalls. Like JVL, I hadn't realized that Riggs trounced—just absolutely crushed, in straight sets, giving up only three games over two sets—Margaret Court, then the most dominant* women's player in the world, just a few months before playing King. As such, in 1973 Riggs challenged the best women’s tennis players in the world to a match. Bobby Riggs & Billie Jean King Interviews and Related Videos. Josh Christenson October 14, 2020 5:32 PM, Elizabeth Matamoros October 14, 2020 5:31 PM. The match has been dramatised for a new film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell as King and Riggs, respectively. My assistant Una acquired a tape of the original broadcast and watched the entire match, commercials and all. *Court at the time was the number one female player in the world and had won 18 of her last 25 tournaments. Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973 Riggs was famous as a hustler and gambler, [21] [22] when in his 1949 autobiography he wrote that he had made $105,000 ($1,930,000 today) in 1939 by betting, in England, on himself to win all three Wimbledon championships: the singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Ilhan Omar Says Iran Tensions Are Triggering Her PTSD, Dem Rep: Cenk Uygur ‘Should Be Given a Chance’, N.Y. Justice Dem: White Male Terrorism Is ‘Biggest Issue’ in US, Justice Democrats-Endorsed Candidate Wants to Disarm Police, Tax Backed by 2020 Dems Would Hurt Retirement Accounts, Report Finds, Arizona Progressives Seek to Censure Sinema for ‘Disappointing’ Voting Record, Eliana Johnson: Pence Got the Better of Harris on Court Packing, Harris: Biden Admin Will Repeal Tax Cuts ‘On Day One’, Video: Dem Senate Candidate Has No Idea What the Patriot Act Is, Cal Cunningham Refuses to Take Position on Joe Biden’s Refusal to Take Position on Court Packing, U.S. Sanctions Have Caused ‘Serious’ Damage to Iran, Tehran Says, California Mayoral Hopeful Admits to Domestic Violence Charges, Latino Officers Association Slams de Blasio After High-Ranking Cop Retires, Democrats’ Health Care Message on Amy Coney Barrett Undermines Court-Packing Push, Twitter Blocks NY Post’s Hunter Biden Story, Locks Newspaper’s Account, Andrea Mitchell: Gay Marriage Court Ruling Is So Beautiful, It’s Read Aloud at Straight Weddings, Journos Who Promoted Michael Avenatti Urge ‘Caution’ on Hunter Biden Collusion Story.
By the end of the match, which he lost 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, Riggs felt every one of his 55 years.

King and Evert turned him down, but Court, attracted by a prize of $10,000 even if she lost, accepted. Billie Jean King holds her trophy high after beating Bobby Riggs in their $100,000 winner-take-all "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match Photo: Bettmann Contributor/Getty Images The … Was it all (you should pardon the expression) rigged? The Battle of the Sexes match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King was held at the Houston Astrodome, Texas on Thursday 20th September 1973. The pair met in the Astrodome on September 20, 1973. Until 2012, it remained the largest audience to watch a tennis match in the United States. In another video, Billie Jean King is interviewed and looks back on the match 40 years later, discussing her enduring friendship with Riggs. Directed by Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris. On September 20, 1973, in a highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, top women’s player Billie Jean King, 29, beats Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. His Twitter handle is @SonnyBunch. With the inimitable Howard Cosell in the broadcast booth, 30,492 spectators in the building plus millions watching on TV saw King kick Riggs’s butt. I have searched all over for a video of the match and it doesn't exist. Riggs "has also asked for a certain amount of money to be discussed later to be put in a bank account for him in England," Ragano told the men, according to Shaw. A film adaptation of the Battle of the Sexes match between King and Riggs was announced in April 2015 with Emma Stone and Steve Carell taking on the leads. After nearly an hour, the four men stood up, shook hands and agreed they'd move forward with Riggs' proposal, Shaw says. A few months back, when I was swatting away the absolutely absurd notion that Brittney Griner could play in the NBA, I snarked, "Then again, Billie Jean King did beat a 55-year-old former pro that one time, so maybe Griner will totes fit into the NBA.". King scrutinized Riggs’s match with Court and determined to play hard and keep him running, using his age against him. What’s the origin of the skull and crossbones pirate flag? It would ruin the women’s tour and affect all women’s self-esteem.”. As well as his talents on the court, Riggs was also notorious for his showmanship and arrogance. But how true is the Hollywood telling of the story?

King went on to win in three sets, ushering in a new era of recognition for women in tennis, sports, and other walks of life. A STAFF REPORT FROM THE STRAIGHT DOPE SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD. How does a gas pump know to shut itself off? Why not sign up to our newsletter?

King won in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3. Riggs went on a months-long heavy-duty training regimen and waged a relentless campaign in the press aimed at psyching Court out.

Riggs won the match quickly, beating his younger opponent 6-2, 6-1 using an array of drop shots and lobs which kept Court off balance.

Just before the match it was announced that King would be able to hit to the doubles court while Riggs would have to hit to the smaller singles court, and also that he would only get one serve to her two. But following his win over Court, Riggs had been in the national limelight and continued to taunt female tennis players. How did “nuts” and “bananas” come to mean “crazy”? My question: was the tennis match played fairly? Bobby Riggs y Billie Jean King se enfrentaron en una batalla de sexos en 1973 (Archivo MD) Ángel Rigueira Jefe de sección Polideportivo. Tags: Cinema, Films, Movies, sport, Tennis. She confirmed that the competitors played by the same rules and said King clearly dominated from the start. Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, Battle of the Sexes is set for release in the UK on 24th November 2017. © 2020 Average Joes is an independent digital mens magazine & lifestyle blog bringing the greatest content the world has to offer to your desktop, tablet & mobile. Despite the handicap Connors won 7-5, 6-2, taking just 88 minutes to make half a million bucks. But the 40-year-old Connors was a much more formidable competitor than Riggs had been, having reached the U.S. Open semifinals the previous year, and Navratilova was 35 herself.

By 1973, King had already won 10 major singles titles but had repeatedly turned him down, not wanting to indulge the showman having been a strong advocate for gender equality and social justice. I cannot get confirmation of this. He was also famous for being a hustler and gambler.

After much soul-searching, King agreed to a $100,000 winner-take-all purse plus at least $75,000 per player in ancillary rights. Riggs followed by entering the arena in a rickshaw drawn by scantily clad models, while donning a yellow ‘Sugar Daddy’ jacket which he was paid $50,000 to wear. The famous tennis match was held at the Houston Astrodome between the 29-year-old Women’s world champion Billie Jean King and the 55-year-old men’s former world champion Bobby Riggs. King entered the court like Cleopatra on a golden litter carried by four topless men dressed as ancient slaves. Riggs was subsequently put on the cover of both Sports Illustrated and Time with the match dubbed the ‘Mother’s Day Massacre’.

Big mistake. Possibly envious of the big bucks women tennis players were starting to command and fully aware of male grumbling about women’s lib, Riggs decided to stage a money-making publicity stunt: a showdown between himself and a top female player, to demonstrate that women’s tennis was plainly inferior to the men’s game. Riggs pursued Margaret Court, Chris Evert, and Billie Jean King, three of the top four women’s players that year. As a 21-year-old amateur in 1939, Riggs won Wimbledon, the U.S. National Championships (now the U.S. Open), and was runner-up at the French Championships. Normally a serve-and-volley player, King stuck to the baseline grinding down Riggs with long rallies.

Riggs hyped the contest in press conferences and in the media with a plethora of misogynistic comments, including “the best way to handle women is to keep them pregnant and barefoot,” exclaiming, “I’ll tell you why I’ll win.

King, though attempting to keep things playful, responded by calling him Riggs a ‘creep.’ Riggs v King. Nonetheless, Jimmy the Greek gave Riggs 5-2 odds to win. It’s said King phoned Riggs during his final moments.



Sign up for the During the build-up to the match, Briggs had bragged about the superiority of the male game and that even at his current age of 55 he could still beat any of the top female players. She relentlessly attacked with a fierce net game, and Riggs soon knew he was in trouble. Apple iPhone 12 Pro – Everything you need to know, Apple iPhone 12 – Everything you need to know, Apple Watch SE after two weeks of ownership.


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