The match in Dubai, which will be broadcast live and free on SuperTennis on 28 December, is an attempt to re-propose in a modern way the two similar matches in 1973. In May of that year Bobby Riggs, then 55 years old and a long-retired former professional, defeated Margaret Court 62 61, who that year won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open. A match that remained in the history of tennis as “The Mother’s Day Massacre”.
The following September 20, in the Battle of the Sexes that had the greatest impact on the collective imagination, Billie Jean King won in straight sets against Riggs himself at the Astrodome in Houston in front of a global television audience of 90 million viewers. That match, a historic achievement for gender equality in sport, was later also told in a 2017 film.
Bobby Riggs leaves the field after losing to Billie Jean King at the end of the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” (Getty Images)
