BEVERLY HILLS, California: The two women who battled in Sunday’s final of the US Open tennis tournament earned prize money equal to their male counterparts and perhaps no person was more instrumental in bringing about that parity than Billie Jean King.
And yet, the 39-time Grand Slam title-winner is disappointed with the progress of equality 40 years after her groundbreaking achievements for women’s tennis and the women’s movement, perhaps most notably her defeat of Bobby Riggs in 1973’s “Battle of the Sexes.”
“Sports are a microcosm of society and women have so far to go,” King, 69, said. “We don’t make as much money, we don’t have the opportunity to play as many sports at the pro-level, we are not even scratching the surface.”
King’s contributions to sports and the women’s movement are chronicled this week in the PBS “American Masters” series. It is the first profile of a sports figure in the programme’s 27-year history. It airs in the United States tonight.
It blends the story of King with testimonies from those who played against her, those who followed in her footsteps and those who were inspired by her feats both on and off the court.
King grew up in a middle-class family in Long Beach, California As she rose to be a top-ranked player, winning her first Grand Slam singles title at Wimbledon in 1966, the lack of equality with men rankled King.
She was one of the “Original 9” members of the Virginia Slims Circuit, created in part to address pay inequity with men, and founded in 1973 the Women’s Tennis Association, which made big inroads on pay and still runs women’s tennis today.
For all her accomplishments, it was the match against a man, former champion Bobby Riggs, that took on mythical status in King’s career. She has no regrets about that.
“I knew it would get exposure. It was a seminal moment. And the timing could not have been more important,” she said, noting that a woman at that time still couldn’t get a credit card without a man’s backing.
“American Masters” shows footage of King holding her own in the media circus, calmly responding to Riggs’ baiting. To keep up her end of the prime-time spectacle, King boldly entered the arena Cleopatra-style, held aloft by bare-chested men.
“It could be a pivotal moment for women and men, how men looked at us and how women looked at themselves,” she said. “It gave women more courage to ask for what they wanted.”
King ended up winning the match in straight sets.
REUTERS
