By Randy Walker
When most people think about the “Battle of the Sexes” in tennis, they think of when Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in their famed 1973 match at the Houston Astrodome, one of the biggest spectacles in tennis, sports and for women’s equality. However, the forgotten “prequel” to King vs. Riggs occurred 37 years ago today when Riggs demolished world No. 1 Margaret Court in Romana, Calif., in a match known as the “Mother’s Day Masscare.” The following is the excerpt from my book “ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY” ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com) that summarizes the happenings of May 13, 1973.
1973 – In the prequel to the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King, the 55-year-old Riggs crushes No. 1 ranked woman Margaret Court 6-2, 6-1 in 57-minutes in their $10,000 winner-take-all challenge match in Romana, Calif. After the match, that becomes known as the “Mother’s Day Massacre,” Riggs, the self-described male chauvinist pig, issues the challenge to take on King, saying “I want her. She’s the Women’s Libber leader! She can name the place, the court and the time, just as long as the price is right.” Riggs, who famously wins the singles, men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 1939, calls his win over Court, “the greatest hustle of all time.” Writes Neil Amdur of the New York Times, “The victory was the latest and perhaps most amazing chapter in the colorful career of one of the games most underrated players and one of the sports most successful hustlers.” King eventually accepts Riggs’ challenge and in September they play in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match at the Houston Astrodome.
Is tennis ready for another battle of the sexes? How would John McEnroe vs. Serena Williams fair today? How about playing it at Yankee Stadium or CitiField in New York or at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas?
Since King-Riggs in 1973 – which drew a world record tennis crowd of 30,472 fans – promoters have tried to recreate this spectacle. In 1985, after Vitas Gerulaitis claimed that the No. 100-ranked man would beat world No. 1-ranked woman Martina Navratilova, he and Riggs teamed to play against Navratilova and Pam Shriver, then the world No. 1 doubles team, in Atlantic City. Once again, the women beat the men. In 1992, Jimmy Connors took on Navratilova at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, where Connors was only given one serve and Navratilova was given half of the doubles alleys to hit into. Connors won that match 7-5, 6-2.