On September 20, 1973, at the Astrodome Arena in Houston, Texas, before 30,472 people, an unprecedented event occurred. Tennis is, to say the least, weird. Party, however, that Breaking down barriers, stereotypes and prejudices…
on one side, Billie Jean KingOne of the best tennis players of all time. On the other hand, former tennis number one Bobby Riggs. he was called Battle of the sexes. Everything has a reason. And it all made sense when Billie Jean King hit her. “It wasn’t about tennis. It was about creating social change.”
One of the biggest
Born in Long Beach, California, on November 22, 1943, Billie Jean Moffett King was a star and icon during the 1960s and 1970s. Not surprisingly, he collected a total of 12 Grand Slams (6 Wimbledon, 4 US Open, 1 Roland Garros and 1 Australia Open), being one of the only six tennis players to have won The four most important awards.
In 1983, after nearly 20 years in business, it was time to say goodbye. and made it revered as one of the greatest of all time. In total, 39 Grand Slam titles on his record12 singles, 16 women’s doubles and 11 mixed doubles.
But in parallel with her prolific career, Billie Jean King has always been a strong defender and fighter. For women’s rights and social change.
Sonada was his feud in 1973 with the US Open, and he even threatened to boycott it along with the rest of the female tennis players, because they did not receive an award equal to that of the men’s team. Their arguments convinced the organization, which ended up turning the US Open into The first tournament to end the pay gap between the sexes, with equal pay offered to male and female tennis players.
battle of the sexes
Although, undoubtedly, the chapter he’s most remembered for was the one he starred in on September 20, 1973.
One of the best tennis players of the 1940s – three-time world champion – who retired a few years ago, Bobby Riggs has repeatedly stated that women’s tennis is not necessary. Left. came the pronunciation “women suck”.
Billie Jean King answered him, defying each other.
The duel was scheduled to take place on September 20, 1973, in Houston, Texas. He will face Riggs and King in what will be called battle of the sexes. The party that has already become everythingn media show from weeks ago. He is macho. A fierce feminist, she surrounded the struggle of statements and threats before it began.
And before 30,472 people in the stadium, and 90 million viewers behind the TV, she just so happened to win. Billie Jean King. woman. And on the fast track: in three sets, 6-4, 6-3 and 6-3. “It wasn’t about tennis. It was about social change.. This was clear to me when I got on the track,” he was going to announce after the win.
Ruthless victory. “I thought if I lost, we might go back 50 years, it would have ruined everything and affected the self-esteem of all women.”
The fight continues
After retiring in 1983 as one of the most successful tennis players of all time – and currently the seventh woman to hold the most Grand Slam titles – Billie Jean King continued her commitment to improving women’s conditions and the fight for equality.
In addition to being the captain of the US team and working for years as a sports broadcaster, he led the creation of Women’s Tennis Association, the main organization governing tournaments and the professional circuit for women’s tennis worldwide, as well as World Tennis Team LeagueIt is a mixed professional tennis league played as a team in the United States. In doing so, she became the first female commissioner of professional sports.
She is currently a board member of the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Andy Roddick Foundation, has been the founder of Women’s Sport Magazine, and has authored several books.
his story He was taken to the cinema, in a film starring Oscar-winning Emma Stone and Steve Carell, which was released in 2017. The story of one of the first and most important female sports figures in the United States, as the then-president acknowledged Barack Obama, noting that her personality was a key to gender equality not only in the world of sports, but in all areas of public life.
