Tennis Great Bobby Riggs Dies At 77
Bobby Riggs, a Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion whose greatest fame came when Billie Jean King beat him in the “Battle of the Sexes,” died Wednesday night. He was 77.
Diagnosed eight years ago with prostate cancer, Riggs died about 9:30 p.m. PDT at his home in suburban Leucadia, said Lornie Kuhle, a longtime friend and executive director of the Bobby Riggs Tennis Museum Foundation.
Riggs formed the foundation last year to promote awareness and prevention of prostate cancer.
The 1973, match between Riggs, who played his role of tennis hustler to the hilt, and King, who dominated the women’s game, was one of the most ballyhooed events in American sports.
Their duel, which drew 30,472 to the Houston Astrodome and a television audience estimated at 50 million, seemed to strike a national nerve, reaching beyond sports and speaking to equality of the sexes.
“Everyone was getting into the man vs. woman thing,” King, who remained one of Riggs’ closest friends over the years, recalled two decades later. “At that time it was the height of the women’s movement; 1973 was when everything was changing.”
Riggs, who was ranked No. 1 in the world in 1939 when he won Wimbledon and the first of two U.S. Open titles, was 55 when he tried to finesse the match against the 29-year-old King by hitting spins, drops and lobs. But she retaliated with long rallies that wore him down and won 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Women’s tennis took off in 1973, when champions including Chris Evert and Evonne Goolagong had a chance to play in a unified tour instead of split between the USTA and the fledgling WTA.
Riggs joked, “Billie and I did wonders for women’s tennis. They owe me a piece of their checks.”
After an outstanding amateur career, Riggs faded into obscurity as a senior player until he took on Margaret Court and then King in mixed singles matches. Riggs beat Court in two sets on Mother’s Day 1973, and that September King beat Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes.”
Born Feb. 25, 1918, in Los Angeles, Robert Larimore Riggs began taking tennis lessons at age 12. In 1934, at 16, he beat Frank Shields, a finalist at Wimbledon and Forest Hills.
In 1942, he competed in the U.S. Pro Championships and lost in the final to Don Budge. They went on tour and Riggs won 23 matches to 21 for Budge.
In 1947, Jack Kramer made his pro debut at New York’s Madison Square Garden and Riggs beat him before a crowd of 15,114 that trudged through 25 inches of snow to see the match.