Bobby Riggs wanted another day in the spotlight, a sequel to his Mother’s Day dismantling of Margaret Court. Billie Jean King just wanted him to shut up.
There was only one way to settle this.
On July 11th, just three days after Billie Jean secured the mixed doubles leg of her Wimbledon triple, the reigning champion and the 55-year-old hustler made it official. They would duke it out on court, after the US Open and–of course–on national television.
Two weeks earlier Riggs had proposed a $100,000, winner-take-all prize pot. He got that, plus an additional guarantee of another $100,000 for each competitor. Jerry Perenchio, the producer handling the event, aimed even higher. He suggested that the match could earn $400,000 by filling an arena. His opening salvo to television networks was $750,000, the price of a John Wayne special.
Perenchio wasn’t just blowing smoke. In 1971, he had helmed the richest sporting event in history, the Ali-Frazier “Fight of the Century.” “I’m more excited about this,” he said, “than I was about the fight.”
Billie Jean proved at this initial press conference that she was better equipped than Court to beat the hustler king at his own game. She knew how Riggs had defeated Margaret, and there was no question of the stakes. Court still pretended her loss was just another exhibition. King understood that the pride of womankind was on the line. No pressure.
Well, pressure is a privilege, as a famous woman once said.
Nobody talked a better game than Bobby, but somehow Billie Jean scored the last word. Riggs teased her about hitting three straight double faults at Wimbledon–something the control artist claimed he had never done. (He may have been right: Legend had it that he once went six months without double-faulting. On the other hand, the main source of Riggs stories was the ever-running mouth of the man himself.)
“How many did I serve against Chris?” King retorted, referring to her comprehensive victory over Chris Evert in the Wimbledon final.
“None,” said Riggs. “You played a helluva game.”
“I’ll let you hustle off the court,” said Billie Jean. “I’ll hustle on the court.”
The most famous women’s libber in sports would finally take a crack at the first 55-year-old man to become a celebrity by lobbing female tennis players. The sport would never be the same.
* * *
This post is part of my series about the 1973 season, Battles, Boycotts, and Breakouts. Keep up with the project by checking the TennisAbstract.com front page, which shows an up-to-date Table of Contents after I post each installment.
You can also subscribe to the blog to receive each new post by email: