On September 20, 1973, more than 90 million people worldwide tuned in to watch one of the most famous tennis matches of all time. Inside the Houston Astrodome, 29-year-old Billie Jean King defeated 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, 6–3, in what became known as the “Battle of the Sexes.” Beyond the spectacle, the match became a defining moment for women’s sports and the fight for gender equality.

The Challenge

Bobby Riggs had been a top men’s player in the 1940s, winning Wimbledon and three major singles titles. By 1973, he was a retired showman known as much for his gambling and antics as his tennis skills. Riggs loudly declared that women’s tennis was inferior and boasted that even at 55, he could beat the best female players. Earlier that year, he proved his point—temporarily—by defeating world number one Margaret Court in what was dubbed the “Mother’s Day Massacre.”

.Billie Jean King, then the leader of women’s tennis and a vocal advocate for equal pay, felt she had no choice but to accept Riggs’s challenge. As she later said, losing would have “set us back 50 years” and damaged not only women’s tennis but also women’s self-esteem everywhere.

The Spectacle

The event was staged like a circus. King entered, carried Cleopatra-style by four male attendants, while Riggs arrived in a rickshaw pulled by models. The two exchanged tongue-in-cheek gifts: Riggs handed King a giant lollipop, while she gave him a squealing piglet, mocking his chauvinist persona.

The match itself, however, was serious. King, learning from Court’s loss, avoided Riggs’s trick shots and soft lobs by sticking to the baseline and making him move across the court. Riggs, who underestimated her, was quickly outmatched. In front of a live crowd of 30,000 and tens of millions of viewers, King won convincingly.

Cultural Impact

King’s victory was about more than tennis. At the time, women athletes were fighting for recognition and equal opportunities, after the passage of Title IX in 1972, which prohibited discrimination based on sex. The Battle of the Sexes provided the women’s movement a global stage. As King reflected, the true thrill was not defeating Riggs but exposing new audiences to women’s tennis and proving that women athletes deserved respect. The win helped solidify the women’s professional tour and amplified calls for equal prize money in major tournaments. The Battle of the Sexes remains one of the most-watched sporting events in history.