Battle of the Sexes in Tennis: A Short History

On this date in 1986, Warner Wolf asked Chris Evert (then the 2nd-ranked female tennis player in the world) if she could beat the 100th-ranked male tennis player in the world.  Her answer: no way. (Scroll down to see the whole interview).

The "Battle of the Sexes" motif in tennis has a rich and colorful history.  Men and women have played mixed doubles tennis together at the professional level since the 1920s (and even earlier in the United States).  It seems natural that athletes' competitive spirits might compel the occasional scrimmage between men and women, but no notable event had ever been organized until 1973.  Bobby Riggs (who had won championships in the 1940s) had such disdain for women's tennis, he claimed that, at 55 years old, he could still beat the top-ranked female tennis player at the time, Margaret Court.  The match, which took place on Mother's Day, saw Riggs defeat Court 6-2, 6-1.

Emboldened by this sudden publicity, Riggs upped the ante by challenging all other prominent female tennis players with a $100,000 bounty for whomever could beat him.  Billie Jean King accepted the challenge, and the event now known as the "Battle of the Sexes" took place in Houston's Astrodome, complete with Cleopatra-style entrances, commentary from Howard Cosell, and other gimmicks.  King's victory over Riggs was witnessed by 90 million television viewers -- still the largest TV audience ever for a tennis match, and at the time, the largest TV audience since the moon landing.  

In 1985, Riggs (then 67 and in ailing health) revived the "Battle" format, recruiting a doubles partner in men's champ Vitas Garulaitis.  Garulaitis picked up the chauvinist gauntlet, claiming that even the 100th-ranked male player could easily beat the number-1 female player.  Despite this, in the match itself, Riggs and Garulaitis lost to top-ranked Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver (coincidentally, a distant cousin to Warner Wolf's co-host, Maria Shriver).

Without context, Chris Evert's comments might have seemed to bolster those who subscribe to Riggs' brand of chauvinism.  In truth, her response is logical and pragmatic -- all things being equal, if a top-ranked male player competed against a top-ranked female player, the male player would likely win.  Indeed, subsequent male-female "Battles" (Connors vs. Navratilova in 1992, Karsten Braasch vs. the Williams sisters in 1998, or Djokovic vs. Li Na in 2013) have been less about confrontation and more about entertainment.  Indeed, the legendary 1973 match is more cultural touchstone than sporting event; it will soon become a feature film starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell.

What 2016 sports spectators have learned is that men and women don't need to compete with each other physically to be successful.  Women's sports -- particularly tennis -- are surging in popularity, and many female athletes are achieving financial and cultural success on par with their male colleagues.  Women are making names for themselves as soccer players, mixed-martial-artists, coaches and referees.  The 1973 "Battle of the Sexes," once the largest-attended tennis match of all time, was surpassed by a 2010 event in Belgium featuring... wait for it... women's tennis champs Kim Clijsters and Serena Williams.

What remains to be seen is whether women will one day compete in sports where they are, indeed, on equal footing with their male counterparts (such as they do today in NASCAR and horse racing).  Can mixed competitions in bowling, curling, sailing, and the e-sports of the future be far off?

Let's go to the videotape!

Where Are They Now?
Plays of the Week: February 14, 1986

• 0:14 It's hard to overstate how momentous the decision was in 1986 for the IOC to allow "professionals" to compete in the Olympics.  The previous head of the IOC, an American named Avery Brundage, held fast to the original Olympic ideals of amateurism -- making the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" that much more meaningful, since the US hockey team that defeated the Soviets were almost entirely college students.  However, the die was truly cast by 1992, when the NBA allowed its players to compete in the Olympic basketball competition, and the first "Dream Team" was born.  In America, "amateurism" is now largely spoken with a giggle -- even in the NCAA, where the concept of paying college players is seriously on the table.  To answer Warner's questions: 1) Would the NHL interrupt its season to allow its stars to skate in the Olympics?  Answer: yes (though the owners still don't like it).  2) Who pays a star if he gets injured in the Olympics? Answer: the owner does.  This was recently highlighted by a horrific injury to NBA star Paul George during a international friendly.  The Pacers still paid his salary, but it did bring up a discussion of who is profiting most from this current mix of professionalism and amateurism.
• 2:11 Stadium geeks might be able to pinpoint exactly when Warner's Yankee Stadium dream was filmed, but we know it was after 1976 renovations that replaced the old wooden seats with plastic ones. The 80-year-old Yankee Stadium was torn down in 2009, replaced by a new Yankee Stadium costing more than $2.3 billion.
• 3:15 Warner celebrated the NHL's foray into videotape replay, but it was the NFL that first used replay in 1986 to supplement official calls (NHL in 1991; NBA in 2001; College football in 2004; Tennis in 2006; MLB in 2008; Soccer in 2014!)  In the coming months, we'll have much more to say about the use of replay as Warner sees it in action throughout 1986.
• 3:46 Hard to believe, but in 1986 Spud Webb's teammate Dominique Wilkins had never even seen the 5' 7" Webb dunk before.  This sandbagging helped to cement Webb's legacy after he defeated Wilkins to win the 1986 Slam Dunk Contest.  His victory was relived twenty years later, when he threw a bounce pass to 5' 9" Nate Robinson, who jumped over Webb as an homage to win the 2006 contest.  Webb also appeared in the 1995 film Forget Paris, where 5" 7" Billy Crystal (playing an NBA referee) famously told him, "You're the only one I can talk to."
• 4:00 Isaiah Thomas also appeared in Forget Paris -- as well as in the 1989 and 1990 NBA Finals, in which he and Dumars and the rest of the Detroit Pistons gained their forever reputations as the "Bad Boys."
• 4:09 The Golden State Warriors were in a bit of a slump in 1986.  It took until 2015 for them to bring an NBA championship to the Bay Area -- exactly 40 years after their previous championship.
• 4:29 Alexis Arguello, "El Flaco Explosivo" ("The Explosive Skinny Man"), was a 3-time world champ. After knocking out Billy Costello in 1986, he didn't fight again except for two brief comeback fights in the 90s.  He instead turned to politics in his native Nicaragua, where he won the mayoral election of the capital, Managua, in 2008.  Amidst allegations of corruption and political retribution, Arguello was found dead a year later, of an apparent suicide.  Though a statue in his honor was erected in Managua, many people still think foul play was involved.
• 4:35 Scott Stevens became known for his hard hits while on the Washington Capitals, being named one of their top 40 players of all time.  But Stevens actually played more years in New Jersey, where he became the first player to have his number retired in Devils history.
• 4:45 Gord Dineen was the definition of "journeyman," playing for 13 major and minor league hockey teams.  Dave Brown, at the receiving end of those 8 left hooks, delivered his own blow a year later -- breaking the jaw of Tomas Sandstrom, and meriting a record 15-game suspension.