Quote:
Originally Posted by Braincase
It was a manufactured event capitalizing on the context of the day. The Equal Rights Amendment was a hot topic, as was Rowe v. Wade, and the NOW had some pull. Bobby Riggs was playing the part o the chauvinist pig, which seemed a pretty natural role for him, and Billy Jean King was starting the downward slide of her career as a tennis champion playing closeted lesbian that earned a whole lot less playing the same game that the boys played. Tennis was one of the first sports to start equalizing payouts (I think the men still get more), but the differential is still there IIRC.
BTW, Bobby Riggs got his ass kicked.
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To set the record straight, Billie Jean King was still one of the top women's players in the world at the time, even though she was 30 years old. The previous year she had won three of the four grand slam events. King was the #1 player in the world for 1972, 1974 and 1975 with this match being set in 1973. The leadup to this match probably cost her the #1 ranking for that year. She did manage to win Wimbledon in 1973, the year of the match.
Many forget the match that had lead up to this. A few years earlier Riggs had beaten Margaret Court, at the time the #1 woman's player in the world. Bobby Riggs was in his 50's at the time. I don't believe he had been active in professional tennis for more than 20 years. Riggs was a hustler and self promoter. Granted he was still a champion, but the national champion for those 50 and older should not be set up as a fair comparison for one of the top women's players of the time.
It was set up as some battle of the sexes to prove women could be the equal of men. If they had Jimmy Connors playing ex-girlfriend Chris Evert it might have proved something. Evert was married to another tennis pro by this time who was not even in the top 20 and she had admitted he could kick her butt in a straight up match very easily.
Does anyone doubt that any of the top 20 men could beat the best woman's player in the world in straight sets, most likely losing only a few games, maybe even 6-0?