Riggs, Bobby

Bobby Riggs, byname of Robert Larimore Riggs, (born February 25, 1918, Los Angeles, California, U.S.—died October 25, 1995, Leucadia, California), American tennis player who was one of the top-ranked players in the United States in the 1930s and ’40s but who was best known for the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes,” a match in which he was defeated by Billie Jean King.

Riggs, the son of a minister, began taking tennis lessons at age 12 and progressed rapidly. At age 18 he was ranked fourth in the United States, and in 1939, at the age of 21, he was first in the world. Although he was relatively short in stature—he stood approximately 5 feet 7 inches (1.7 metres) tall—Riggs used speed and a shrewd strategy to overcome more-powerful opponents. He helped the U.S. team win the Davis Cup in 1938, and at Wimbledon the following year he won the singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles titles. He also captured the first of his U.S. championships (now known as the U.S. Open) in 1939. After turning professional (1941), Riggs won the 1942 and 1947 U.S. doubles titles, with Don Budge, and the 1946, 1947, and 1949 U.S. singles titles. In addition to his play, Riggs garnered attention for his larger-than-life personality, which included a fondness for pranks. He quit professional tennis in 1951, although he later played in senior events.

Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King

“Battle of the Sexes”

After making disparaging comments regarding women’s tennis, Riggs, a self-proclaimed “male chauvinist pig,” challenged a number of leading female players to a match. Margaret Court accepted his offer. The match was held on May 13, 1973, and proved an easy victory—6–1, 6–2—for the 55-year-old Riggs. After the “Mother’s Day Massacre,” he then focused on King, whom he described as the “women’s libber leader.” She agreed to play him, and the two faced off on September 20, 1973. The highly publicized “Battle of the Sexes” began as a spectacle. Riggs entered the Houston Astrodome on a rickshaw, accompanied by a bevy of women and wearing a jacket emblazoned with “Sugar Daddy.” King arrived on a litter carried by toga-clad men. Riggs presented King with a lollipop, and she in turn gave him a piglet. The match, however, was a pivotal event in women’s tennis. Playing before a record crowd of 30,472 spectators and a worldwide television audience of more than 90 million, King won all three sets—6–4, 6–3, 6–3—and in the process helped to transform the women’s game into a major sport. Riggs later stated, “I underestimated Billie Jean and overestimated myself.”

After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Riggs formed the Bobby Riggs Tennis Museum Foundation in 1994 to promote awareness of the disease. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1967. His autobiography, Court Hustler (cowritten with George McGann), was published in 1973.