Rob McLean - Clijsters v Henin will have nothing on battles of the sexes
Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, tennis icons, lesbians, charity fund-raisers and campaigners for women's rights. And they also won enough titles between them to fill a semi-detached house.
Amid all the glory they endured a lot of flak, but the public have definitely mellowed towards them in recent years. King is the matriarch of US tennis, Navratilova another legend and high-profile spokesperson on everything that moves. She even appeared on 'I'm a celebrity get me out of here'.
King is tennis royalty, confirmed by the stamp of approval with an audience with Barack Obama and then a This Is Your Life type tribute in Long Beach, California with all her many friends (nearly 1,000) in attendance; Navratilova has a fight for life with the whole world behind her after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
The popularity now is a far cry from Martina's early and peak years at Wimbledon. It was always her main rival Chris Evert who got the support, the All-American girl who was briefly married to Britain's John Lloyd.
However, the return to the spotlight reminded me that King and Navratilova are in a unique group of three professionals (Margaret Court is the other) who once took on men in singles matches.
The record crowd in the history of tennis is the 31,492 who filled the Houston Astrodome in 1973 to watch King and Bobby Riggs in the Battles of the Sexes 2.
Belgians Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin hope to beat that attendance in an exhibition in July to mark the start of the EU presidency in their country, but King's match was also watched by millions around the world on television.
Riggs, at 55, a former world No 1 in the 1940s, had continually belittled the women's game, saying that men were stronger. He thought he had proved his point by beating Court in an earlier challenge.
By all accounts the Australian froze and King felt she had no choice but to accept the challenge. For the women's liberation and burning bras movement of the time it was a moment that brought huge credibility.
King won in straight sets and Riggs, to his credit, took his defeat like, er, a man, and went back into his box.
Navratilova's challenge to Jimmy Connors 19 years later had a lot less edge to it, and Connors, slightly more sprightly than Riggs, having got to the US Open semi-finals aged 39, won 7-5, 6-2.
He also picked up $500,000 and did it with two handicaps - one serve per point and Navratilova was also allowed to hit into half the doubles alley.
The only other battle of the sexes that has been mooted over the past 10 years was a John McEnroe v Venus Williams contest when Donald Trump allegedly offered $1million for the match to take place. Nothing materialised but it would be a fascinating contest now, particuarly on grass. Don't rule it out in the future.
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The Rome Masters this week is another tournament which like Monaco is steeped in tradition and has a roll of honour that reads like a Who's who of tennis.
Unfortunately the last and only British player to win the title was a chap called George Hughes in 1931 - what is it about the 1930s and British success - but Christine Janes Truman won the women's title for Britain in 1957. Can Andy Murray win a match? He will do very well to get past Andreas Seppi, who will have the hostile home crowd on his side. Will Nadal and Federer meet again for the first time for a year?. The best part of the tennis year is now up and running.
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Date published :
27 Apr 2010 - 08:23:33
