0:00:04 > 0:00:06MUSIC: "How Strong Is A Woman" by Ann Peebles
0:00:12 > 0:00:16# There seems to be some conflict
0:00:16 > 0:00:19# As to who is the stronger sex
0:00:19 > 0:00:22# Some say it's hard to tell
0:00:22 > 0:00:24# When they're both bringing home a cheque... #
0:00:24 > 0:00:25What's wrong with her?
0:00:25 > 0:00:27She's a woman, isn't she?
0:00:30 > 0:00:32Women workers do present problems, Joan.
0:00:32 > 0:00:34Well, of all the nerve!
0:00:37 > 0:00:41# If you wanna know how strong is a woman... #
0:00:44 > 0:00:46I didn't want to be a second-class citizen
0:00:46 > 0:00:49and I didn't want anybody else to be a second-class citizen either.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52# ..That a woman is as strong as...
0:00:52 > 0:00:56# As the man she loves... #
0:00:57 > 0:00:59You don't know what the hell you want!
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Men like to be the boss and they like to be the head of the family,
0:01:05 > 0:01:06and women do not have the same rights.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11I like to be old-fashioned. I like him to buy cigarettes for me,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13letting me sit down and opening the car door.
0:01:16 > 0:01:18Number one - the woman should stay in the bedroom.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21Number two - they should get to the kitchen.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Number three - support the man. Support the king.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I was a journalist and the highest praise that even friendly editors
0:01:31 > 0:01:33would give me was, "You write like a man."
0:01:34 > 0:01:37# How strong is a woman?
0:01:39 > 0:01:44# A woman is strong till love takes a hand
0:01:45 > 0:01:47# A woman is strong... #
0:01:52 > 0:01:55CHEERING
0:01:57 > 0:01:59STARTER GUN FIRES
0:01:59 > 0:02:01COMMENTATOR: Look at them...
0:02:01 > 0:02:04The weaker sex.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08They were everywhere, from the tennis club to the Olympic Games,
0:02:08 > 0:02:10and they still wanted a seat in the bus.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13But would these strenuous games
0:02:13 > 0:02:16impair the natural functions of motherhood?
0:02:17 > 0:02:21For future generations, to be or not to be, that was the question.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30As a young child, I started to realise that girls didn't have...
0:02:30 > 0:02:33the power, or people wouldn't listen to us...
0:02:33 > 0:02:36in the same way they'd listen to boys.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37I couldn't articulate it then.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40I felt all these things bubbling up in me.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life dedicated
0:02:43 > 0:02:46to fighting for equal rights and opportunities for boys and girls,
0:02:46 > 0:02:47men and women.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51I knew that tennis would be a platform
0:02:51 > 0:02:52if I could become number one.
0:03:00 > 0:03:03MUSIC: "The Happening" by The Supremes
0:03:03 > 0:03:06# Hey, life, look at me
0:03:06 > 0:03:09# I can see the reality
0:03:09 > 0:03:11# Cos when you shook me Took me out of my world
0:03:11 > 0:03:15# I woke up Suddenly, I just woke up
0:03:15 > 0:03:18# To the happening... #
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It's real when you're playing tennis.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26I know it's a game, but it allows you to be resilient.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29It allows you to bounce back.
0:03:29 > 0:03:31You learn how to win.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And it portrays real life in action.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36It just does.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38DAN MASKELL: That's it, she's won it.
0:03:38 > 0:03:39It's absolutely beautiful.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Last night, I was so anxious, I couldn't even...get to sleep.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51I'm like a little kid again.
0:03:51 > 0:03:52I love to play.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Billie Jean King was a bundle of energy, vivacious. Boy...
0:04:00 > 0:04:03was she a good big-match player.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11Billie Jean King had a heart of a champion, the heart of a lion.
0:04:11 > 0:04:13Wimbledon champion and great player.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26The game is possibly not quite so attractive today
0:04:26 > 0:04:29with the emphasis on some of the girls,
0:04:29 > 0:04:32like Billie Jean King, who charges around the court
0:04:32 > 0:04:36very much like a man, rather than the old days, when you had girls
0:04:36 > 0:04:39who looked exceptionally graceful on court.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42I don't think that it was sexy to be a woman athlete, necessarily,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45back in the '60s. I didn't view it that way.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51I think we saw women tennis players who were a little bit more...
0:04:51 > 0:04:54let's say masculine - maybe that's why they did play a sport.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58You're different from other girls. You're almost like a man.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02- Oh, no, I'm very much the woman.- I don't think of you that way at all.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Here she is. She is single and fun-loving.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11We were supposed to be demure,
0:05:11 > 0:05:14have a little round collar and a flared skirt.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20And you were supposed to be nice to men and tell them
0:05:20 > 0:05:23how wonderful they were.
0:05:23 > 0:05:25She's engaged.
0:05:25 > 0:05:26CHURCH BELLS RING
0:05:26 > 0:05:28She is newly married.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35She may be exclusively a homemaker.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Opportunities for women hardly existed.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Or she may hold a part-time job.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48It was difficult for a woman to get a credit card.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51It wouldn't be in her own name, but in her husband's name.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54PHONE RINGS
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Women could not start their own businesses
0:05:56 > 0:05:58without their husband's permission.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03Women's roles were not to be successful and not to achieve.
0:06:05 > 0:06:09So, when somebody like a Billie Jean King came around,
0:06:09 > 0:06:11society didn't know what to think.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Ho-ho! There it is.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19Remember, she's Mrs King. Has been for four years.
0:06:19 > 0:06:23I thought you liked me to watch you.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27Mr King plays an average tennis game
0:06:27 > 0:06:29and a better-than-average waiting game.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33He's become accustomed to walking a few steps behind his wife.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36Larry's had enough of tennis, but as yet, he's not put his foot down
0:06:36 > 0:06:38about his wife's future.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41I don't think he'd want to ever ask me to give up tennis.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44Yet, I think he wishes...
0:06:44 > 0:06:45that maybe I would!
0:06:45 > 0:06:49You know, that I'd want to give it up, but I don't at the moment,
0:06:49 > 0:06:50so it's difficult.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Deep down, do you really feel like that?
0:06:53 > 0:06:55It's not very deep.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57SHE LAUGHS
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Everything was about, "Is your husband OK?
0:06:59 > 0:07:00"Whatever's right for him."
0:07:00 > 0:07:01Get the Mrs degree
0:07:01 > 0:07:04and settle down and have kids and let's go.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07People think I'm terrible. "Jeez, how can you travel
0:07:07 > 0:07:09"and not be home and cook three meals a day
0:07:09 > 0:07:11"and have three children by now?"
0:07:11 > 0:07:14- The last real meal you cooked for me was...- What was that?!
0:07:14 > 0:07:16SHE LAUGHS
0:07:16 > 0:07:17It was in May.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20- May?- Of 1967.- Yeah, right!
0:07:20 > 0:07:22BOTH LAUGH
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Oh!
0:07:23 > 0:07:26I used to get really ticked off,
0:07:26 > 0:07:29because they never asked the boys that, the men players.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31They had to manage their marriages,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33they're on the road 11 months a year.
0:07:33 > 0:07:34Like, hello! Why don't you ask them?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38# Now I sing this song in hope
0:07:38 > 0:07:40# That you won't think it's a joke
0:07:40 > 0:07:43# But it's time we all awoke to take a stand... #
0:07:43 > 0:07:47The feminist movement was really starting to happen, you know,
0:07:47 > 0:07:50there was that bubbling up, kind of underneath the surface,
0:07:50 > 0:07:52obviously had to have an influence on me.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56What would you do if women disrupted a man's rally?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59What do you mean...? What do you mean...?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02What would you do? You'd beat 'em to bits.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04That's what we should do to this pig. Get out of here.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Women really do have a community of interests
0:08:07 > 0:08:10because we are relegated to menial and de-humanised positions
0:08:10 > 0:08:12simply because we are women.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17This generation stands for... INDISTINCT
0:08:17 > 0:08:19That women are worth it.
0:08:19 > 0:08:22That sisterhood is powerful.
0:08:22 > 0:08:25Women are organising themselves, complaining of oppression,
0:08:25 > 0:08:29demanding the same rights men have and even talking of revolution.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It's the blossoming of the feminist movement.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35We have been much too law-abiding and too docile for too long,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38but I think that period is about over.
0:08:38 > 0:08:42So, I only want to remind you, and me, tonight,
0:08:42 > 0:08:46that what we are talking about is a revolution
0:08:46 > 0:08:48and not a reform.
0:08:50 > 0:08:52CLAMOURING
0:08:59 > 0:09:03The Civil Rights Movement was a great contagion of the idea of equality.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10You cannot fight racism without also fighting sexism.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14These twin caste systems are very much intertwined.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22We hold these truth to be self-evident.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24That all men are created equal.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26CHEERING
0:09:26 > 0:09:29MUSIC: "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" by John Lennon
0:09:29 > 0:09:32# Woman is the nigger of the world
0:09:34 > 0:09:37# Yes, she is
0:09:37 > 0:09:38# Think about it
0:09:41 > 0:09:43# We make her paint her face and dance
0:09:46 > 0:09:49# If she won't be a slave We say that she don't love us
0:09:52 > 0:09:55# If she's real We say she's trying to be a man
0:09:58 > 0:10:01# While puttin' her down We pretend so hard she's above us
0:10:03 > 0:10:05# Woman... #
0:10:05 > 0:10:08If you define niggers as someone whose opportunities are defined
0:10:08 > 0:10:10by others, whose role in society is defined by others,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14then good news, you don't have to be black to be a nigger in this society.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17Most of the people in America are niggers.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30There, all of a sudden, women were burning their bras
0:10:30 > 0:10:33and having demonstrations on the streets.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39It was like the lights going on, because you suddenly realised
0:10:39 > 0:10:42that you were not alone in having these experiences,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44and if we banded together, we could change them.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51I was reading, you know, and thinking about things.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54And, also, I think I was starting to become much more aware
0:10:54 > 0:10:57of what was going on around me, particularly in our sport.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Women's tennis is, in a way, the ultimate in women's liberation.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11It puts the lie to the activist claim about exploitation.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16Men watch Billie Jean not to ogle her sexy legs
0:11:16 > 0:11:18but to witness or even learn from her game.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25We expressed exactly what the women's movement is about.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30We sweat, it's real, it's about just being the best we could be
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and whatever we want to be, it's about choice.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33GRUNTS
0:11:33 > 0:11:35CROWD GASPS
0:11:35 > 0:11:36GRUNTS
0:11:36 > 0:11:37CROWD GASPS
0:11:37 > 0:11:40There is little more revolutionary than for women to
0:11:40 > 0:11:41become physically strong.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Sports make it possible for women with muscles and strength
0:11:49 > 0:11:52to be admirable.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56- UMPIRE:- Would spectators please try to contain themselves during play.
0:11:56 > 0:11:58- Oh, I love it!- All right!
0:11:58 > 0:11:59Fine!
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Every now and then, someone comes along
0:12:11 > 0:12:13with the ability to make it big,
0:12:13 > 0:12:16not so much on their talent, as on their ability
0:12:16 > 0:12:18to generate publicity.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Meet Bobby Riggs, ageing ex-tennis star
0:12:21 > 0:12:24who's discovered there's money in putting down women.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28I feel that the women have had things going too good for them
0:12:28 > 0:12:29for a long time.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31American women are the most privileged group
0:12:31 > 0:12:34of all time in history and are still not satisfied, they want more.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36First thing you know, guys are getting married,
0:12:36 > 0:12:39pretty soon won't be able to get out once a week for a poker game,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42they won't be able to go away for weekend duck-hunting trips
0:12:42 > 0:12:44or for camping vacations, and they will have to be playing bridge
0:12:44 > 0:12:48and going to a concert with their wives and they'll be enslaved,
0:12:48 > 0:12:50so I don't care about myself, but I'm fighting for the guys
0:12:50 > 0:12:52who are all going to get married in the next...
0:12:52 > 0:12:56when they get 20, 21 or 22, and we got to stop those women right now.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01The women's movement started and my dad, he said,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03"Oh, you're not the same in tennis,"
0:13:03 > 0:13:07so he came up with an idea to challenge a woman to play tennis.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11Admittedly, Riggs was once a great champion.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Today, he says he just wants to protect mankind from pushy women.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18He knew how to promote
0:13:18 > 0:13:20and he knew what it was like to create a big crowd
0:13:20 > 0:13:23and he saw this opening and he picked up on it that there was
0:13:23 > 0:13:24a women's cause and he threw it out.
0:13:24 > 0:13:31There were many people who believed that any man could beat any woman
0:13:31 > 0:13:33in a particular sport
0:13:33 > 0:13:36and he was playing on that in a very public way.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40Veteran tennis pro Bobby Riggs thinks men players are superior
0:13:40 > 0:13:42to women players.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45Women don't play half as good as men. As a matter of fact,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I don't even think they can beat me, and I'm a 55-year-old guy
0:13:48 > 0:13:51who can hardly walk or run or jump or hold a racket any more.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54I think I might beat the best girl in the world.
0:13:54 > 0:13:58To prove it, Riggs challenged the world's best women pros.
0:13:58 > 0:14:01He said, "I offer 5,000 to any woman who can beat me.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04"I challenge Billie Jean King to a match for 5,000."
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Billie Jean King was the top player of the time and she was a big draw.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18She's a Wimbledon champion and great player
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and she voiced her opinions on women's tennis
0:14:20 > 0:14:23and Bobby was reading that, he'd follow it
0:14:23 > 0:14:25and he just came up with the idea.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"If you're so good, Billie Jean King, come and play me."
0:14:32 > 0:14:34Bobby kept coming up to me.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36He'd appear at a tournament out of nowhere.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40I'd be totally focused on what we had to do and Bobby would come over.
0:14:44 > 0:14:45Ah...
0:14:45 > 0:14:47He'd go, "Hi, Billie. We got to play this match.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50"Oh, it'd be so good, we'll get lots of money, we'll get TV."
0:14:50 > 0:14:52You know, he talks real fast like this, and I go,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55"Bobby! Slow down. I'm not going to do this."
0:14:55 > 0:14:57A-ha...
0:15:04 > 0:15:09My gut reaction was no, because what do I have to gain by it personally?
0:15:09 > 0:15:11If I win, I've beaten a 55-year-old athlete,
0:15:11 > 0:15:13so that's not a big athletic feat.
0:15:15 > 0:15:16What happens if I lose?
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Margaret Court is one, two, three greatest players of all time.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33She won 62 Grand Slam championships.
0:15:33 > 0:15:36She's got a tremendous record, so she was a great player.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43There was great rivalry between she and Billie Jean.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50You couldn't really get two more different people.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57Night and day. Very different in their personalities.
0:15:57 > 0:15:59But champions.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05We had some battles and it was always sort of
0:16:05 > 0:16:07a bit electrifying when we played.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14Margaret Court was shy and quiet and
0:16:14 > 0:16:16very conservative and, you know,
0:16:16 > 0:16:20got married, had a couple of kids.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23Just did everything by the book.
0:16:23 > 0:16:27She was quite religious and she felt she had to use the God-given talent
0:16:27 > 0:16:29that she had to its maximum.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34I wasn't a women's libber, I didn't want to come across like that.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Billie Jean King was always a political figure.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39I guess I never looked for that.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47We were in Detroit, playing a tournament.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51And Margaret and I get in the elevator
0:16:51 > 0:16:55and she's, "Oh, by the way, I'm playing Bobby Riggs."
0:17:03 > 0:17:05He kept at Billie Jean and myself,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07and I thought I could really beat him.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09So, he wasn't all that good.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11I thought, "Well, I'll give it a go."
0:17:14 > 0:17:17I about fainted. I went, "What?! Why?"
0:17:17 > 0:17:20She said, "Well, I'm getting 3,500."
0:17:20 > 0:17:21I said, "That's great,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24"but, Margaret, this is not a tennis match.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27"I mean, it's a tennis match, but that's not what it represents."
0:17:31 > 0:17:34And so as we get out of the elevator, I go,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37"Margaret, please promise me you're going to win this match.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39"You HAVE to win this match."
0:17:42 > 0:17:45Do you have a special game plan for Bobby Riggs?
0:17:45 > 0:17:48It's not as though I'm playing somebody that probably
0:17:48 > 0:17:49will wipe me right off the court.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52I don't feel that Bobby Riggs hits the ball hard enough
0:17:52 > 0:17:53to do this sort of thing,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55and I feel that there's a few of the top girls in the game
0:17:55 > 0:17:58that probably hit the ball harder than he does.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Bobby, is this match just to prove the physical dominance
0:18:00 > 0:18:03of men over women?
0:18:03 > 0:18:05Everybody knows that she's a power player.
0:18:05 > 0:18:08She probably likes speed, she's aggressive, she plays like a man
0:18:08 > 0:18:11and hits the ball very hard, especially for a woman.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14And if I were going to meet her in a ring as a boxer,
0:18:14 > 0:18:18I would box with her, and that's what I'll do on the tennis court.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21I haven't really taken this match on as a women's lib sort of thing.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25But if I'm going to make a lot of women happy, I'll enjoy beating him!
0:18:29 > 0:18:32It is a 30-year-old mother against a 55-year-old hustler
0:18:32 > 0:18:35on Mother's Day, and all morning long, the Rolls-Royces
0:18:35 > 0:18:38and the chauffeured limousines have been bringing the celebrities
0:18:38 > 0:18:41to see this most talked about match in the history of tennis.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46I think that it's very exciting and I believe that
0:18:46 > 0:18:50Margaret Court will beat Bobby Riggs.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55I think Bobby Riggs is living on his past, he's 55 years old
0:18:55 > 0:18:58and, you know, wears glasses, and I'd be surprised
0:18:58 > 0:19:00if he wouldn't have a coronary right there.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03I kind of think that if you're competing seriously all the time,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Margaret Court will have an edge.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08She is strong, she hits the ball hard, she runs very well,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and I think Bobby's in real trouble.
0:19:10 > 0:19:13Listen to that, saying nice things about Margaret!
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Have you got anything nice to say about Bobby Riggs
0:19:15 > 0:19:17- at this point?- No, not really!
0:19:21 > 0:19:23There's the Duke himself, John Wayne.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27It's my privilege to introduce to you the players in today's match.
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Three-time Wimbledon champion, four times women's singles champion
0:19:31 > 0:19:35in the United States, from Australia, meet Margaret Court.
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I didn't know when I went in there what I was in for.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44I had no idea what he had all planned behind the scenes.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47She looks around and there's 5,000 people there instead of 50
0:19:47 > 0:19:49and, all of a sudden, it's on TV
0:19:49 > 0:19:51and it's a really big deal.
0:19:51 > 0:19:53Thank you very much. Her opponent,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56twice a United States singles champion, also a winner at Wimbledon.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58Colourful and controversial Bobby Riggs.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01CHEERING
0:20:01 > 0:20:04He had his fan squad there, yelling and screaming.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06In America, they love all that sort of thing.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11He presented her with the roses on Mother's Day
0:20:11 > 0:20:14and she curtsied to him, which upset a lot of women.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19See? He's not such a bad guy after all.
0:20:19 > 0:20:20SHE CHUCKLES
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Margaret Court had long arms and long legs
0:20:23 > 0:20:27and she seemed to cover the court so much better than everybody else.
0:20:28 > 0:20:30She was such a good player.
0:20:46 > 0:20:47Play.
0:20:56 > 0:20:5815...Mr Riggs.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01He hated to lose.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04He would try to arrange a game where you would think
0:21:04 > 0:21:05that you could beat him,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09but he was very accurate, hard to beat.
0:21:09 > 0:21:10CHEERING
0:21:10 > 0:21:1330...Mr Riggs.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17This is exactly what we expected to see, some of those drop shots.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19No power and a lot of finesse.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22CHEERING
0:21:22 > 0:21:2530-15.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Tennis is very much a test of character.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37Not only talent and strength, but it's also who has
0:21:37 > 0:21:39the mental endurance to come through.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43- UMPIRE:- 40-15.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45COMMENTATOR: Margaret seems to be off her game here.
0:21:45 > 0:21:47- SUMMARISER: - Well, one of her big faults,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50really the only fault she has, is really her nervous system.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55- She can get very tense. - CROWD GASPS
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Game to Mr Riggs.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00He grew up in a time where his parents didn't have any money
0:22:00 > 0:22:04and his only thing he had was sports and his hands and his feet.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10So his whole life was about playing marbles for money,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13playing tennis for money, playing golf for money.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17He always thought he was going to win or he wouldn't get involved.
0:22:21 > 0:22:24CHEERING
0:22:37 > 0:22:39CHEERING
0:22:57 > 0:22:59GASPS
0:22:59 > 0:23:03The first set, by a score of 6-2, Mr Riggs.
0:23:03 > 0:23:04He's playing the game great,
0:23:04 > 0:23:06he's soft-balling Margaret to death.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09But at the moment, it looks like Bobby is just toying with her
0:23:09 > 0:23:11and I know that's going to have a demoralising effect
0:23:11 > 0:23:14on Margaret if she thinks he's just horsing around with her.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19What does Margaret Court have to do to get it together here in the second set?
0:23:19 > 0:23:23She's got to get the net and really try to play an offensive game.
0:23:33 > 0:23:34GASPS
0:23:34 > 0:23:3615...Mr Riggs.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41Bobby first played Wimbledon in 1939.
0:23:43 > 0:23:45And he goes into the bookie's.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48He said, "What are the odds on Bobby Riggs winning the singles?"
0:23:48 > 0:23:50"3-1."
0:23:50 > 0:23:51So he bets on himself to win it.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02The guy says, "You know, we got doubles and the mixed doubles too,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05"if you want to go for all three."
0:24:05 > 0:24:08He got 12-1 odds. The guy says, "Pretty hard thing to do."
0:24:11 > 0:24:14He says, "I'm positive I'm going to win, chuck it in."
0:24:15 > 0:24:18So he bets singles, doubles and mixed.
0:24:18 > 0:24:21Then, lo and behold, he won all three of them.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27APPLAUSE
0:24:29 > 0:24:32Triple crown at Wimbledon, he deserved respect.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36He was a hustler, wasn't he? The guy was brilliant.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47CHEERING
0:24:47 > 0:24:49She should never have accepted that challenge.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52She wasn't the sort of person who
0:24:52 > 0:24:56could withstand Bobby's personality.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01When her nerves got to her, she couldn't even hit
0:25:01 > 0:25:04the ball near the court. I mean, it was just flying...
0:25:12 > 0:25:14Match point.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17I felt sorry for her, it was that bad.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19And from there, it's history.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21There it is.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24CHEERING
0:25:24 > 0:25:26He absolutely trounced her.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I think it was the tension, the pressure of the biggest match
0:25:33 > 0:25:36ever played, the 60 million audience on television,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39all the press, the way this thing has been built up
0:25:39 > 0:25:41over the last two or three months.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42She arrived here
0:25:42 > 0:25:44with the whole pressure of the women's world on her.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Casals and that whole group had 30,000 to bet on her.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I only hope they got accommodated, that's all I can tell you.
0:25:49 > 0:25:53Psychologically representing the women of the world, was that a factor in the match?
0:25:53 > 0:25:56No, not really. I mean, I would have liked to have won it.
0:25:56 > 0:25:58I even feel, you know,
0:25:58 > 0:26:01if it had've been close and I lost, I would have been a lot happier
0:26:01 > 0:26:04if I had've played well, but I don't feel I played at all well
0:26:04 > 0:26:07and...you know, I've very disappointed with that.
0:26:07 > 0:26:09I'm going to specialise in women's tennis from now on.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11I think I've discovered my new thing in life,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13- play women all over the world. - LAUGHTER
0:26:13 > 0:26:17The logical match now would be a Bobby Riggs, Billie Jean King match.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19She turned down the offer at the start,
0:26:19 > 0:26:21and I'm not sure if she'd play now,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24but certainly he's hot copy right now with his strong win today.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27It's probably one of my mistakes in life.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34Perhaps I was naive in some areas.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39I don't know if Margaret realised
0:26:39 > 0:26:42the deal or not.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46It was disastrous for women's tennis.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Before 1968, tennis was an amateur sport, you played for love.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00But then the game went professional.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03Finally, people could make a living in the sport.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I just remember being so happy.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08Memories of the world's first open tennis tournament,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11where pro and amateur faced each other across the net
0:27:11 > 0:27:14on equal terms, will linger for a long time.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17Reigning Wimbledon queen Billie Jean King met irrepressible
0:27:17 > 0:27:19Judy Tegart in the women's singles final.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Billie Jean King's amazing skill
0:27:25 > 0:27:27has taken her to the singles title for the third time.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29A grand hat-trick.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34The two greatest champions Wimbledon has ever known,
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Billie Jean King and Rod Laver,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39open the dancing at the Grosvenor House Wimbledon Ball.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41Laver was playing, not only for the coveted trophy,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44but also for the £2,000-plus prize money.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47I didn't have any idea we were going to get different prize money.
0:27:47 > 0:27:48I go, "What?!
0:27:48 > 0:27:50"He got 2,000. I got 750?"
0:27:50 > 0:27:52I thought it was totally unfair.
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Holy breaking and entering, it's Batgirl!
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Untie us before it's too late.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I've worked for you a long time and I'm paid less than Robin!
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- Holy discontent!- Same job, same employer, means equal pay
0:28:04 > 0:28:06for men and women.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09- TIMER TICKS, BELL RINGS - Holy Act of Congress!
0:28:12 > 0:28:14When the prize money started appearing, it was obvious
0:28:14 > 0:28:17that the men were up here and the women were down here.
0:28:17 > 0:28:22And we started feeling very strongly that we deserved to get paid equally.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25Equal prize money for what?
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Women play two to three sets.
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Guys play three to five.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31Is it equal work, is it equal time?
0:28:31 > 0:28:35There's no way that the women should have equal prize money, no way.
0:28:37 > 0:28:42I never saw the argument of men playing three out of five sets
0:28:42 > 0:28:45versus women playing two out of three sets
0:28:45 > 0:28:48as being the issue. The issue to me
0:28:48 > 0:28:52was, can we draw as big a crowd as the men?
0:28:52 > 0:28:53And if the answer's yes
0:28:53 > 0:28:57then we deserve the same amount of prize money.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59Equal pay!
0:28:59 > 0:29:05There was legislation in 1963, but equal pay is
0:29:05 > 0:29:08most neatly applicable to exactly the same job.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12Women who are childcare workers get paid less than men
0:29:12 > 0:29:14who are parking attendants.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18It isn't that people value their cars more than their children,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21it's that one is a pink-colour ghetto and the other is a male job.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Now tennis is taking on still newer look
0:29:25 > 0:29:29and it appears that the game will never be the same.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33With tennis, it was difficult to use legislation when
0:29:33 > 0:29:36they kept maintaining that people didn't want to see women
0:29:36 > 0:29:38playing tennis.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41The net result of all this is to make the girl so glamorous
0:29:41 > 0:29:45that no-one cares whether they can play tennis or not.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52The ratio of prize money started to be horrendous,
0:29:52 > 0:29:54like, 10, 11, 12 to 1.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58And more and more tournaments did not have women's events
0:29:58 > 0:30:01so we, as women, had fewer and fewer places to play.
0:30:03 > 0:30:06It was the men who were running things
0:30:06 > 0:30:10and there was very clearly
0:30:10 > 0:30:12not a place for women
0:30:12 > 0:30:14on their horizon.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18We're in big trouble if we want to keep playing tennis.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20Forget the money, just play.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28There was only one woman we knew who we thought was powerful enough
0:30:28 > 0:30:30to help us.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35My mother was the perfect storm.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39She ran the world's largest and most important tennis magazine.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46Billie and Rosie and I went to talk with Gladys Heldman
0:30:46 > 0:30:49and see if she could help us in any way.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52They told her there are no tournaments for women,
0:30:52 > 0:30:56or very few, and the prize-money differential from men to women
0:30:56 > 0:30:59is getting bigger and bigger, and that's not right.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04And Gladys said, "Let's try to get a tour started, we can do this."
0:31:09 > 0:31:11I don't think you're going to find too many Gladys Heldmans.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14Who knew tennis better than she did?
0:31:16 > 0:31:20Gladys made it happen. She knew how to get a sponsor,
0:31:20 > 0:31:21she had great connections.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25Within three weeks, we had a tournament
0:31:25 > 0:31:27scheduled in Houston.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34And then the United States Tennis Association
0:31:34 > 0:31:37started calling all the women, saying...
0:31:37 > 0:31:39"If you're going to play this tournament,
0:31:39 > 0:31:41"we are going to suspend you."
0:31:44 > 0:31:47They were the establishment and they controlled the sport.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53The guy was making very clear and strong threats.
0:31:53 > 0:31:57"You won't be able to play other USLTA women's tournaments,
0:31:57 > 0:32:01"you won't be able to play... Wimbledon."
0:32:01 > 0:32:03Well, of all the nerve!
0:32:04 > 0:32:07Can you imagine never being able to play Wimbledon again?
0:32:07 > 0:32:09Or playing the US Open again?
0:32:11 > 0:32:17Everybody was rattled and nobody was really sure what was going to happen,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20but I said, "I'm in, and we will stand in solidarity."
0:32:23 > 0:32:27I was not that politically active then.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29I mean, I didn't think it was quite right
0:32:29 > 0:32:31but I wasn't going to rock the boat.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35I was very much of keeping the men's and the women's together -
0:32:35 > 0:32:37always was.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40I really didn't get involved back then at all.
0:32:41 > 0:32:47Did it bother me that Margaret Court, Virginia Wade wouldn't come on board?
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Yeah. Yeah.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51I thought that was chicken.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56I probably was never going to be a frontrunner in the suffragettes.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02Nine of us were willing to cross the line.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Seven Americans and two Aussie girls.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13We signed for one dollar, you know.
0:33:13 > 0:33:17I didn't have any doubts. I thought it was the right thing to do.
0:33:18 > 0:33:22We stood there and held our little dollar bill up
0:33:22 > 0:33:26but we had no idea if that tournament would be a success.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32Sometimes you just got to take some type of stand
0:33:32 > 0:33:34and take a risk.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39We weren't sure about our destiny, but I'll tell you one thing.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42We knew it was now in our hands for the first time - in our hands,
0:33:42 > 0:33:44not somebody else's.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48MUSIC: "One Way Ticket" by Mama Cass Elliot
0:33:48 > 0:33:51# Call the village band out
0:33:51 > 0:33:54# Bid me goodbye... #
0:33:54 > 0:33:58In those early days, it was wild and woolly.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01It was making things up as we went along.
0:34:03 > 0:34:09# Never thought so many Thought me so dear... #
0:34:09 > 0:34:11We were playing anywhere
0:34:11 > 0:34:14where somebody could get a big enough crowd
0:34:14 > 0:34:17to be able to pay the prize money.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21# One-way ticket Take me anywhere... #
0:34:21 > 0:34:25Some of the places that we played were really not equipped for tennis.
0:34:25 > 0:34:28Sometimes we would go into an arena and maybe we didn't have any
0:34:28 > 0:34:32tennis balls, or maybe the court wasn't down yet.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35We all had to work really hard,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38but there was a sense we were in this together.
0:34:39 > 0:34:41It was fun, great times.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46Nobody knew what to make of us.
0:34:46 > 0:34:50It wasn't uncommon to send out the society reporter.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54What's it like to be, if you'll forgive the expression, a spinster on the tennis court?
0:34:54 > 0:34:56How much longer are you going to keep all this up?
0:34:56 > 0:34:59To be honest with you, I thought I would have quit by now.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04Tennis really comes, not first, but equal to, say, my marriage.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06How long will that last?
0:35:06 > 0:35:09The tennis, I mean. Not the marriage.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11- SHE CHUCKLES - I don't know on either one!
0:35:14 > 0:35:17We had to educate them about women's tennis, what it was all about,
0:35:17 > 0:35:20and why we deserved the money that we got when we won.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23There is nothing better for a human being to be able to get paid
0:35:23 > 0:35:26for playing the sport well.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30A lot of the girls have changed for the better and they have a lot more
0:35:30 > 0:35:32personal pride in their personality. They feel,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35"I've done it. I didn't have to ask Mom and Dad for the money,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37"I earned that money because I played well."
0:35:42 > 0:35:45And then Virginia Slims, who were a big sponsor, came along
0:35:45 > 0:35:47and what they did was phenomenal.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50They had the know-how, they had the money, they knew
0:35:50 > 0:35:52how to advertise, they knew how to market
0:35:52 > 0:35:54and they did all of that for us.
0:35:56 > 0:35:59We'd do a radio show at six in the morning
0:35:59 > 0:36:01or at two o'clock in the morning...
0:36:01 > 0:36:03magazine article, whoever would listen to us.
0:36:03 > 0:36:05You know, you learned how to sell.
0:36:08 > 0:36:13The media interest was that there was a rebellion by the women
0:36:13 > 0:36:15and there was something new that was happening.
0:36:21 > 0:36:25# No matter where I am
0:36:25 > 0:36:29# I'm passing through... #
0:36:29 > 0:36:32It's been a year since we first had our first
0:36:32 > 0:36:34Virginia Slims Invitational in Houston.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38We were bad little girls, but that's where it all started,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41and I think we have come a long way since then.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48Billie Jean King, leader of a special brand of female revolutionaries.
0:36:48 > 0:36:49Proving in a male-dominated sport
0:36:49 > 0:36:53that even in a frilly tennis dress, ladies can be liberated.
0:36:53 > 0:36:57It's proving to the world that women's tennis
0:36:57 > 0:36:59is an interesting and a profitable proposition.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01We would like to have played along with the men,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04but the men got the idea that they were the only ones who mattered.
0:37:04 > 0:37:10When we first started the tour, we were in it to support ourselves
0:37:10 > 0:37:12by doing what we did best,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14but as the days, months,
0:37:14 > 0:37:18years went on, we began to see the bigger picture.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21The women's movement was going to change things,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23and we would be a part of that.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29INDISTINCT
0:37:31 > 0:37:32No, thank you.
0:37:37 > 0:37:39Women liberationists are on the march again.
0:37:39 > 0:37:41For more than four years,
0:37:41 > 0:37:44members of the National Organisation For Women have been campaigning
0:37:44 > 0:37:48throughout the nation for more equality and better civil rights.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Women were often divided on crucial issues affecting their lives.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01THEY CHANT
0:38:02 > 0:38:06Some saw abortion on demand as part of their right to exercise control
0:38:06 > 0:38:08over their own bodies.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12We do not seek to impose abortion on any woman who doesn't seek one.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14But by the same token,
0:38:14 > 0:38:17the women, or a man, who oppose abortion have no right
0:38:17 > 0:38:20to deprive anybody of a fundamental right.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25But many disagreed on ethical and religious grounds.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29We want people to know how anxious we are
0:38:29 > 0:38:35about aggression on an unborn child and the bewildered mother.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37CHEERING
0:38:37 > 0:38:39Lots of women say, "I'm happy."
0:38:39 > 0:38:41What they really mean is, "I'm content
0:38:41 > 0:38:43"and I'm not going to complain."
0:38:43 > 0:38:44It's a lot of nonsense.
0:38:44 > 0:38:47- Why?- Because you are liberated inside or you're not, you know.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51If you're a liberated human being, you're a liberated human being, and taking off...
0:38:51 > 0:38:55- What if you don't have equal...? - Oh, we have equality. It's the inferior people that are crying.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I want to be old-fashioned. I like him buying cigarettes for me,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01letting me sit down and opening the car door.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05The women's movement often called it the "Queen Bee Syndrome".
0:39:05 > 0:39:08You know, the desire to be the only member of your group
0:39:08 > 0:39:10inside the superior group.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17The opposition will go out and find people who look like you
0:39:17 > 0:39:18but behave like them.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26- To the Queen of Tennis. - Obviously my head is too big.
0:39:26 > 0:39:27LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:39:27 > 0:39:29- 'Hello.'- Hello, Mr President.
0:39:29 > 0:39:35'I just wanted to congratulate you on your great successes this year
0:39:35 > 0:39:37'and this has got to be your best year, don't you think?'
0:39:37 > 0:39:40'All these things started to fall into place.
0:39:40 > 0:39:44'We were finally starting to grow and be truly successful.'
0:39:44 > 0:39:47The other girls have got to be... given a lot of credit.
0:39:47 > 0:39:49They've done a lot of promotional work this year,
0:39:49 > 0:39:53except they tried very hard when I played against them, unfortunately.
0:39:53 > 0:39:57'But then the USTA saw the success we were having with Virginia Slims
0:39:57 > 0:40:01'and set up their own rival women's tour in competition with us.'
0:40:02 > 0:40:05They had Virginia and they had Evonne Goolagong
0:40:05 > 0:40:06and then they had Chris Evert,
0:40:06 > 0:40:10and I thought, "How ridiculous that you're going to set up a tour
0:40:10 > 0:40:14"to rival us, instead of having those players be a part of us."
0:40:14 > 0:40:17That hurt me and all of us a lot.
0:40:17 > 0:40:20Because they didn't have to. All they had to do was join us.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Equality? You don't know what the hell you want!
0:40:26 > 0:40:29My dad did not care about the women's movement at all.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34Had no idea what it was, or what it was about, or where it came from.
0:40:34 > 0:40:37He was just Bobby Riggs, ex-tennis champion.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41Met a very nice lady and they got married
0:40:41 > 0:40:44and then they had three or four kids.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46He had a house in the suburbs.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48He had a regular job, wore a suit, coat and tie,
0:40:48 > 0:40:52came to work every day, downtown New York.
0:40:52 > 0:40:53He was just a regular guy.
0:40:55 > 0:40:58For about 20 years, it seems Bobby Riggs disappeared. Where did you go?
0:40:58 > 0:41:00Being a good 9-5 father and provider and...?
0:41:00 > 0:41:02Yes, I thought so. However, a lot of people tell you,
0:41:02 > 0:41:05"The only reason you got to be executive vice-president
0:41:05 > 0:41:06"is you married the boss's daughter."
0:41:06 > 0:41:10I'll tell you one thing. If you want to get to the top, that's the fastest way to go.
0:41:10 > 0:41:11Holy God, wait a minute.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15What makes Bobby Riggs come alive is playing a game in a contest.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19Tennis, golf, backgammon, gin - whatever it is, I like to compete.
0:41:19 > 0:41:21I never see you playing slot machines, the crap tables.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25- How come?- That's the sucker's play, you know that.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27You don't expect Bobby Riggs to be a sucker.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Are you ready? I'm going to shoot first and put the pressure on you.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33- Put it on.- OK, ready, set, go.
0:41:33 > 0:41:36His wife kept telling him, "Bobby, you've got a gambling problem.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37"If you don't go to a psychiatrist,
0:41:37 > 0:41:39"I'm going to file for divorce."
0:41:39 > 0:41:40And Bobby said,
0:41:40 > 0:41:42"OK, dear, I'll cooperate.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45"You set up the appointment, I'll go to a psychiatrist."
0:41:45 > 0:41:48So, now he starts going to a psychiatrist twice a week
0:41:48 > 0:41:50for an hour and a half.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53By the second time, he's playing gin rummy with his psychiatrist
0:41:53 > 0:41:57for the whole session, and he carried on like that for a year.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59HE CHUCKLES
0:41:59 > 0:42:02- Do you do it for money, Bobby? - No, I do it for fun, the sport.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06It's the thing to do. When I can't play for big money, I'll play for little money.
0:42:06 > 0:42:08If I can't play for little money, I'll stay in bed that day.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16He was in La Jolla, California, and his wife called him
0:42:16 > 0:42:19and she informed him that she was filing for a divorce.
0:42:23 > 0:42:25She said, "Bobby, you've been gambling.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29"I can't handle it any more, I'm sorry, but we're divorced."
0:42:31 > 0:42:34He was absolutely dumbfounded, he couldn't believe it.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36I loused the marriage up, there's no question about that.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40Because I did like to play my golf, I did like the gin rummy,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44I did like to "be with the boys", as she used to call it, you know.
0:42:44 > 0:42:45CHEERING
0:42:45 > 0:42:47OK.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51So, now he's divorced, he's going to do something.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54What's he going to do?
0:42:54 > 0:42:56And all of a sudden, he starts hearing these women talking about,
0:42:56 > 0:42:58"We're as good as guys
0:42:58 > 0:43:01"and the women's tennis game is as good as the guys'."
0:43:01 > 0:43:04I feel we work just as hard for the money as they do
0:43:04 > 0:43:08and feel that there should be some compensation for it.
0:43:08 > 0:43:11He got the germ of the idea, "Hey, the girls have got that good.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13"You know what? I think I can still beat them."
0:43:15 > 0:43:17What woman could beat Bobby Riggs?
0:43:17 > 0:43:20Hey, send telegrams out to all the top girls.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22Chrissie Evert, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King,
0:43:22 > 0:43:26Nancy Richey, and the one who answered was Margaret Court.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37We were all in Japan, playing a tournament at the time.
0:43:40 > 0:43:45She apparently let it just really get to her and played terrible.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51And it didn't help our cause.
0:43:51 > 0:43:54We stopped in Hawaii, before coming back to California,
0:43:54 > 0:43:57and you know those little TV sets that you put a quarter in?
0:44:00 > 0:44:03And we were watching this, "God, she's on, she's on!"
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Her first mistake was curtsying to him.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09That was really a psychological mistake.
0:44:11 > 0:44:12'Match point.'
0:44:16 > 0:44:19'There it is. Bobby Riggs wins...'
0:44:19 > 0:44:22I looked at the old lady and she looked at me,
0:44:22 > 0:44:24and she says...
0:44:24 > 0:44:26"Now I've got to play him."
0:44:32 > 0:44:35This is going to be the real match, this is what it's really all about,
0:44:35 > 0:44:37because Bobby challenged me in the first place.
0:44:37 > 0:44:40I didn't want to start an issue, but now that Margaret went ahead
0:44:40 > 0:44:43and opened the door and did such a miserable job...
0:44:43 > 0:44:45you know, I think that I can beat Bobby.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49What makes you think that I won't be able to psych you out?
0:44:49 > 0:44:51I'm not Margaret Court, I love pressure.
0:44:51 > 0:44:52You can try psyching me all you want.
0:44:57 > 0:45:01I had promoted the first Ali-Frazier fight in Madison Square Garden.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03If it had just been a tennis match,
0:45:03 > 0:45:05I wouldn't have had any interest in it at all.
0:45:05 > 0:45:08Do you think a lot is at stake for women's lib?
0:45:08 > 0:45:12I like the idea that I am playing for someone else besides myself.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14The feminist movement was just coming out
0:45:14 > 0:45:17and this just tied into it beautifully.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20I get 120,000 letters from Bobby's mob.
0:45:20 > 0:45:22This is the mob of guys all over the world
0:45:22 > 0:45:25who wrote and told me they were rooting for me.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28I wouldn't let these guys down for the world.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30This has the atmosphere of a prize-fight.
0:45:30 > 0:45:32Yes. That's exactly what it is.
0:45:32 > 0:45:36Never bet against Bobby Riggs, especially when there's big money involved.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40He hustles off the court and I hustle on the court. That's where it matters.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44She's carrying a banner for the women's lib.
0:45:44 > 0:45:48I'm carrying the male is supreme, the male is king, no matter what the difference in age.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51That's a bunch of baloney. First of all, people are people.
0:45:51 > 0:45:54Some are more supreme than others in different things.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56- Can you beat her?- I can kill her.
0:45:59 > 0:46:01Billie Jean took this thing very seriously.
0:46:01 > 0:46:05She knew it was tongue-in-cheek, but on the other hand she knew she had to beat him.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16You can always find Bobby Riggs in the world of the beautiful people.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19The guest at somebody's gracious mansion.
0:46:21 > 0:46:23Bobby's career was over for all intents and purposes
0:46:23 > 0:46:26and now this is his day in the sun.
0:46:26 > 0:46:28I wouldn't call myself a do-gooder.
0:46:28 > 0:46:31I have an exciting life, basically for myself.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35He was a big-time celebrity all of a sudden. It's amazing.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38I'm a singles player. Better singles than doubles.
0:46:40 > 0:46:42What's the difference?
0:46:42 > 0:46:44In doubles you have to communicate with your partner
0:46:44 > 0:46:46and it's a team game.
0:46:46 > 0:46:48Just like marriage. It takes two.
0:46:48 > 0:46:50I blew two marriages already,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53so that proves I'm a better singles player than a doubles player.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56Bobby amuses me.
0:46:56 > 0:46:59I don't think he's hurting women's liberation at all.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01Do you go as far as Bobby Riggs does?
0:47:01 > 0:47:04They should be home in the kitchen and in bed and having babies?
0:47:04 > 0:47:06In bed, but not the rest!
0:47:06 > 0:47:09All of a sudden, women of all ages are chasing him.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12And this has never happened to him before in his life.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14There were some starlets and some good-looking babes.
0:47:14 > 0:47:16It was unbelievable.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19He was like Tom Cruise. He was the guy.
0:47:21 > 0:47:24He's like a Confucius He's got a lot of pearls of wisdom.
0:47:25 > 0:47:29I would go over and there he'd be talking to two or three girls or whatever.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33I'd have my tennis clothes on, my racket or whatever, and I'd say, "Dad let's hit some balls."
0:47:33 > 0:47:35"No, don't feel like it today."
0:47:35 > 0:47:40So I said to him, "Dad, Billie Jean King is pretty good, you know. We need to start training."
0:47:40 > 0:47:44And he said to me, "I beat Margaret Court really easily.
0:47:44 > 0:47:49"She's better than Billie Jean King. There is no problem here. I will defeat her easily."
0:47:49 > 0:47:51And I said, "Come on."
0:47:51 > 0:47:56And he said, "I won Wimbledon, not you. Don't try to second-guess me."
0:47:57 > 0:48:00Would you please welcome tennis champion, Billie Jean King.
0:48:00 > 0:48:02APPLAUSE
0:48:04 > 0:48:07And you gals were a little bit steamed because the men, of course,
0:48:07 > 0:48:11their purses are much higher than what they are for women?
0:48:11 > 0:48:14What's irritating is when we play with the fellas,
0:48:14 > 0:48:17say at the US Open, and the promoter tells us
0:48:17 > 0:48:20we're out-drawing the men but we're getting paid less.
0:48:20 > 0:48:21Like a two to one ratio.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23I did not have time to even think
0:48:23 > 0:48:26about playing Bobby Riggs in a match
0:48:26 > 0:48:30because what we were doing off the court was so demanding.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37They say this is the year of women's emancipation in tennis.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39How much of a fight has it been?
0:48:39 > 0:48:43Oh, I think it's been a really hard struggle for us to be appreciated.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46I always felt that if we got big prize money,
0:48:46 > 0:48:48then the appreciation would follow.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50I think this is exactly what's happened.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52But the financial differential remains.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57The man who wins at Wimbledon will get more than twice as much money as the women's champ.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02There were two separate women's tours.
0:49:03 > 0:49:07One run by us and one run by the USTA.
0:49:08 > 0:49:12I knew that we all had to be together if we were going to get equal prize money.
0:49:12 > 0:49:15We played separate tours for two years, I believe.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18When we did play each other at a Grand Slam,
0:49:18 > 0:49:20the USTA girls always felt they were looking at us like,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24"Why didn't you come over to our side and stand with the pack?"
0:49:26 > 0:49:28Top talent is divided.
0:49:30 > 0:49:36We had to unify and have a union of players together to have one voice.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Billie Jean and a group of players went into a meeting
0:49:42 > 0:49:45at the Gloucester Hotel in London during Wimbledon.
0:49:47 > 0:49:51We went in and started this meeting, which was very clandestine,
0:49:51 > 0:49:55because if it got out that we were forming an association,
0:49:55 > 0:49:57all hell would have broken loose.
0:49:58 > 0:50:02I said, "Lock the doors. Do not let anybody out of this place."
0:50:02 > 0:50:05So I stood in front of the door with broad shoulders.
0:50:05 > 0:50:09Several players wanted to leave and I told them, no, they couldn't.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12I didn't hit them, but I stood there. I didn't let them out.
0:50:13 > 0:50:15I said, "We have to do this.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18"We have an association by the end of this meeting or we don't.
0:50:18 > 0:50:21"And if we don't, fine, but I'm out of here."
0:50:24 > 0:50:27'73 was the year we had to do it and if we wouldn't do it then,
0:50:27 > 0:50:29it would never happen again.
0:50:34 > 0:50:36The players weren't sure.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38They were a bit afraid, I think, to step forward.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44There are always people who say why instead of why not.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47Why should we change? We've got something that's very nice.
0:50:49 > 0:50:51We had a lot of resistance.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54I didn't really want to be there, I don't think,
0:50:54 > 0:50:56in the meeting during the middle of Wimbledon.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59I just remember her standing up saying,
0:50:59 > 0:51:00this is it, this is our moment.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04This is our opportunity to change the future.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08I remember thinking the formation of the WTA,
0:51:08 > 0:51:11Women's Tennis Association, was crucial.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15If we joined forces with them, we would be stronger.
0:51:17 > 0:51:19Eventually, everybody voted.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Yes, there would be an association.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31Everybody was, wow, very proud to be a woman then.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35# No-one's ever going to keep you down again
0:51:36 > 0:51:39# Oh, yes, I am wise. #
0:51:39 > 0:51:42This is unbelievable. We've got one voice now. We can rock.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45We can start making a difference, not only for us,
0:51:45 > 0:51:47but for the future generations.
0:51:48 > 0:51:53# If I have to, I can do anything
0:51:53 > 0:51:55- # I am strong - Strong
0:51:55 > 0:51:58- # I am invincible - Invincible
0:51:58 > 0:52:01# I am woman. #
0:52:01 > 0:52:03In an all-American women's final,
0:52:03 > 0:52:05Mrs Billie Jean King, the reigning champion,
0:52:05 > 0:52:08and Miss Christine Evert, still only 18-years-old.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12The Congress of the United States passed a law
0:52:12 > 0:52:15that has come to be known as Title IX.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19Schools must provide facilities and opportunity for women
0:52:19 > 0:52:21equal to those they provide for men.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29Ms has been added to the US government list
0:52:29 > 0:52:31of acceptable prefixes.
0:52:31 > 0:52:33Ms, says the government,
0:52:33 > 0:52:37is an optional female title without marital designation.
0:52:40 > 0:52:43The Supreme Court today legalised abortions.
0:52:43 > 0:52:45The majority in cases from Texas and Georgia
0:52:45 > 0:52:48said the decision to end the pregnancy during the first
0:52:48 > 0:52:52three months belongs to the woman and her doctor, not the government.
0:52:52 > 0:52:56# I can do anything
0:52:56 > 0:52:58- # I am strong - Strong
0:52:58 > 0:53:01- # I am invincible - Invincible
0:53:01 > 0:53:04# I am woman. #
0:53:04 > 0:53:07And Billie Jean King is champion again.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14She went on to win the women's doubles and the mixed doubles,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17winning the triple crown for the second time.
0:53:17 > 0:53:19ALL: Bobby Riggs! Rah, Rah, Rah!
0:53:19 > 0:53:21Bobby Riggs tends to go a bit overboard
0:53:21 > 0:53:22where vitamins are concerned.
0:53:22 > 0:53:26Riggs, who takes 415 pills a day, says they will give him the edge
0:53:26 > 0:53:28in the match with Billie Jean King.
0:53:28 > 0:53:29Ah, great!
0:53:29 > 0:53:31Do you like women?
0:53:31 > 0:53:34I like them real good in the bedroom, in the kitchen and...
0:53:34 > 0:53:36You're a male chauvinist pig!
0:53:36 > 0:53:38CHEERING
0:53:40 > 0:53:43If a woman is put in a male arena, then people will be interested
0:53:43 > 0:53:45because 90% of the media is controlled by men.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48So if I'm going to play Bobby, now it's about the men.
0:53:48 > 0:53:51The male is king, the male is supreme and the women should know that.
0:53:51 > 0:53:53AUDIENCE BARRACK
0:53:55 > 0:53:57I plan to bomb Billie Jean King in this match
0:53:57 > 0:54:00and set back the women's lib movement about another 20 years.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03He kept on going all these shows and acted like a crazy man,
0:54:03 > 0:54:07so the women got pissed off about it and they all rallied around Billie Jean King
0:54:07 > 0:54:09to beat this idiot and shut this guy up.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12The guy is a complete buffoon. Shut him up.
0:54:12 > 0:54:14As part of the hoopla,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17Bobby Riggs signed copies of his favourite book - his autobiography.
0:54:19 > 0:54:22It became one of the biggest things that was going on in America.
0:54:22 > 0:54:24Everybody was talking about this thing.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29He said women should stay pregnant, he said they should be kept home and kept pregnant. I mean, you know.
0:54:31 > 0:54:33I thought he was a jerk.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35He was very much a loudmouth back in those times.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37I was hoping he would get beaten.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40After I demolished the beautiful Margaret Court,
0:54:40 > 0:54:43all the girls all the world got up in arms
0:54:43 > 0:54:46and said we have to find a gladiator that will put down that Bobby Riggs.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50I'm glad he's enjoying himself and he's helping promote the match.
0:54:50 > 0:54:52But I tell you, when we get on the court,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55all the talking in the world isn't going to help.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59Bobby Riggs today would be a laughing stock.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01But unfortunately, he wasn't back then.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07You really think this match should be the symbol of the women's struggle against the men?
0:55:07 > 0:55:09Absolutely. We've chosen the gladiators.
0:55:09 > 0:55:14Billie Jean King for the women and Bobby Riggs for all the male guys all over the world.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17No way he's going to take me out. I have been around long enough.
0:55:17 > 0:55:20All that hot air isn't going to make one bit of difference.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23She's psyched out already. She's coming apart at the seams.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Wait until I use my secret weapon. I'll wear Hai Karate aftershave.
0:55:27 > 0:55:29That way, she won't be able to concentrate.
0:55:29 > 0:55:33Hi, I'm Bobby Riggs, here with the male chauvinists all over the world.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36When I finish my chores, I can still splash on Hai Karate
0:55:36 > 0:55:38and go out and swing a little.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40After all, which would you rather be?
0:55:40 > 0:55:43A great woman tennis player or a 55-year-old sex symbol?
0:55:50 > 0:55:53I went for, I think, ten days.
0:55:53 > 0:55:55I got away from everybody
0:55:55 > 0:55:58and absolutely started to slowly but surely focus in.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04She prepared. She practised. She worked out.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07And she had that mental attitude.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13I decided I was going to be very quiet.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15I wasn't going to get involved with the audience at all.
0:56:15 > 0:56:17I was totally going to stay focused.
0:56:17 > 0:56:20I visualised completely how I wanted to be before I got there.
0:56:20 > 0:56:22I thought about it every day.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28I hit hundreds of overhead serves a day.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35When she decides she's going to do something, she's going to do it.
0:56:40 > 0:56:42There was a tremendous amount of interest.
0:56:43 > 0:56:45Madison Square Garden was bidding for it.
0:56:45 > 0:56:48New Orleans was bidding for it.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53We got 250,000 guaranteed from the Astrodome in Houston.
0:56:53 > 0:56:58And we got 750,000 from ABC from a television standpoint.
0:56:58 > 0:57:00In those days, that was the top price.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06Hollywood celebrities, sports figures have converged on Houston
0:57:06 > 0:57:08to see Riggs battle Billie Jean King,
0:57:08 > 0:57:10the so-called defender of women's rights.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12Mrs King, or Ms King,
0:57:12 > 0:57:15has threatened to scrape Riggs off the floor of the Astrodome.
0:57:16 > 0:57:20Playing against Riggs, I knew there would be so much media attention.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23That was a scary time.
0:57:23 > 0:57:26Very scary because I was leading this dual life.
0:57:28 > 0:57:30I was not happy.
0:57:30 > 0:57:33And I wasn't sure I wanted to stay married with Larry
0:57:33 > 0:57:36because by then I had realised I was gay.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41I was uncomfortable in my own skin because of my sexuality.
0:57:41 > 0:57:43I was uncomfortable...
0:57:45 > 0:57:47..just knowing who I truly am.
0:57:47 > 0:57:49I just didn't know who I was yet.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52I was seeing Marilyn at the time.
0:57:53 > 0:57:55This is going to be rough.
0:57:55 > 0:57:59Because of all the exposure, they might pick up on some more things.
0:58:07 > 0:58:10I was worried it would hurt the tour, women's sports.
0:58:11 > 0:58:16Going through a lot of different things all at once was really rough.
0:58:16 > 0:58:18Some people in professional tennis
0:58:18 > 0:58:20are mortified at the circus atmosphere.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23but all the hoopla has gotten a lot of people watching tennis.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26I think if I had to bet money I would bet on Bobby Riggs.
0:58:26 > 0:58:28I would have to give him the edge over Billie Jean.
0:58:28 > 0:58:30Hey, Sydney, how are the ticket sales going today?
0:58:30 > 0:58:32Billie Jean King.
0:58:32 > 0:58:3665, take your pick. That makes it official out of Las Vegas.
0:58:36 > 0:58:39The match is for 100,000, winner takes all.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42But Riggs and King stand to make much more than that
0:58:42 > 0:58:44in commercial plugs and television rights.
0:58:44 > 0:58:47The last time I played in front of a TV audience
0:58:47 > 0:58:53I was offered 5,000 for prize-money and 7,500 for TV money.
0:58:53 > 0:58:56So when somebody offered me 100,000, winner-take-all,
0:58:56 > 0:58:58that seemed like a lot of money to me at the time.
0:58:58 > 0:59:01I said, "Bobby, this is about history to me."
0:59:01 > 0:59:04And he just looked at me like, "Who cares? It's the money, honey."
0:59:04 > 0:59:08Without women's tennis really making a name for itself,
0:59:08 > 0:59:11there was no way in the world we could have had
0:59:11 > 0:59:14a 100,000 winner-take-all match, such as we are having now.
0:59:14 > 0:59:18And without women's tennis I don't think Bobby would have had such a great time either.
0:59:18 > 0:59:21But we are also making money from him, so it's kind of like a marriage!
0:59:30 > 0:59:32- # Think- (Think)- Think- (Think)
0:59:32 > 0:59:34- # Think- (Think)- Think- (Think)
0:59:34 > 0:59:36- # Think- (Think)- Think- (Think)
0:59:36 > 0:59:38- # You think- (Think)- Think- (Think)
0:59:38 > 0:59:39- # Think about- (Think)
0:59:39 > 0:59:41- # You better- (Think)
0:59:41 > 0:59:43# Think about what you're trying to do to me
0:59:43 > 0:59:45- # Think- (Think)
0:59:45 > 0:59:47# Let your mind go, let yourself be free
0:59:47 > 0:59:50# Let's go back, let's go back, let's go on way back when
0:59:50 > 0:59:52# I didn't even know you
0:59:52 > 0:59:54# You couldn't have been too much more than ten
0:59:54 > 0:59:56- # Oh, freedom- (Freedom)
0:59:56 > 0:59:58- # Freedom- (Freedom)
0:59:58 > 1:00:00# Freedom
1:00:00 > 1:00:02# Freedom. #
1:00:02 > 1:00:05I am so excited. I had my T-shirt printed.
1:00:05 > 1:00:08There we are. "I am a Billie Jean fan."
1:00:08 > 1:00:11I'm looking at Billie Jean King. I think she's going to win this.
1:00:11 > 1:00:14It's the best thing that's happened tennis in a long, long time.
1:00:16 > 1:00:19People were making bets. They were planning parties.
1:00:19 > 1:00:21I'm telling you, people were crazy about it.
1:00:24 > 1:00:26This was a huge sporting event.
1:00:26 > 1:00:29They had 31,000 people to the largest tennis match ever attended.
1:00:29 > 1:00:32It was watched by over 100 million people worldwide.
1:00:37 > 1:00:41The following is an exclusive presentation of ABC Sport.
1:00:44 > 1:00:46Before I played Bobby, I was in the bathroom
1:00:46 > 1:00:49and I heard the women voting against me.
1:00:49 > 1:00:51They thought he would win.
1:00:51 > 1:00:54I came out of the stall and they about fainted and I said,
1:00:54 > 1:00:56"Thanks a lot for being so loyal, you guys. Come on."
1:00:56 > 1:00:59It's like Monday night football.
1:00:59 > 1:01:02It's not the usual tennis atmosphere. It's a happening.
1:01:04 > 1:01:08And here comes Billie Jean King, a very attractive young lady.
1:01:08 > 1:01:13If she ever let her hair grow down to her shoulders and took her glasses off,
1:01:13 > 1:01:16you would have somebody vying for a Hollywood screen test.
1:01:16 > 1:01:17There she is.
1:01:17 > 1:01:19Girls play a nice game of tennis for girls.
1:01:19 > 1:01:22When they get out there on the court with a man,
1:01:22 > 1:01:25even a tired old man of 55, they are going to be in big trouble.
1:01:25 > 1:01:27Look at that male chauvinist pig!
1:01:27 > 1:01:30And that is the present that Billie Jean gave him.
1:01:30 > 1:01:34That is too cute for him. He doesn't resemble that kind of a pig!
1:01:37 > 1:01:41It's the most common conflict in the world. Man versus woman.
1:01:41 > 1:01:43It happens every day in every household
1:01:43 > 1:01:45and here it was for the whole world.
1:01:45 > 1:01:47One side against the other.
1:01:49 > 1:01:52It was the match of the century, what can I tell you?
1:01:54 > 1:01:58I knew I'd be remembered the rest of my life if I won or lost this match.
1:02:15 > 1:02:17CHEERING
1:02:17 > 1:02:18Love-15.
1:02:28 > 1:02:3015 all.
1:02:30 > 1:02:32CHEERING
1:02:34 > 1:02:3630-15.
1:02:36 > 1:02:3830 all.
1:02:38 > 1:02:3940-30.
1:02:47 > 1:02:49CHEERING
1:02:49 > 1:02:54Bobby was wearing his Sugar Daddy jacket and he was really perspiring.
1:02:54 > 1:02:56He sweat up a storm in there, I'm telling you!
1:02:56 > 1:03:01It was very hot in there, but they gave me 50,000 to wear that jacket.
1:03:02 > 1:03:05I said, "Take the jacket off."
1:03:05 > 1:03:07So he took the jacket off and started to perform.
1:03:36 > 1:03:38CHEERING
1:03:39 > 1:03:43So Bobby held service and the games are 2-2.
1:03:53 > 1:03:57COMMENTATOR: Bobby Riggs breaks through, leading 3 to 2.
1:03:57 > 1:04:01Could that be a turning point in this match?
1:04:01 > 1:04:03I was making some pretty big mistakes.
1:04:03 > 1:04:05Exactly what I didn't want to do.
1:04:09 > 1:04:13Your heart just stopped. You couldn't believe this was happening.
1:04:13 > 1:04:17We were all worried that Billie Jean King might lose.
1:04:17 > 1:04:21There were so many young girls who loved sports counting on her.
1:04:28 > 1:04:30CHEERING
1:04:30 > 1:04:31Game, Ms King.
1:04:31 > 1:04:34She did what she had to do and she did it her way.
1:04:35 > 1:04:38Whoever won the first set, it was critical.
1:04:38 > 1:04:41I had to win this first set.
1:04:46 > 1:04:48Game, Ms King.
1:04:48 > 1:04:50CHEERING
1:04:56 > 1:04:59Bobby, looking to get his first serve in to Billie Jean's backhand
1:04:59 > 1:05:01and probably follow his service in.
1:05:03 > 1:05:05First serve called.
1:05:13 > 1:05:15CHEERING
1:05:15 > 1:05:20That is the first set and the women in this arena are standing
1:05:20 > 1:05:23and cheering for Billie Jean King.
1:05:23 > 1:05:25Bobby doesn't look very happy.
1:05:25 > 1:05:28I suppose we all expected to have some high humour involved,
1:05:28 > 1:05:31but instead his comedy has gone out of Bobby Riggs.
1:05:33 > 1:05:37Bobby had bet a man named Dick Butera 15,000 that he would win.
1:05:37 > 1:05:39That's a big bet.
1:05:43 > 1:05:44I knew Bobby Riggs.
1:05:44 > 1:05:48He would go out there and lose the first set on purpose to make the odds higher and higher.
1:05:48 > 1:05:51That's how good he was, that he would lose the first set
1:05:51 > 1:05:53and sometimes two and then come back winning.
1:05:56 > 1:05:59After the first set, Bobby sent me over from the bench
1:05:59 > 1:06:01into the audience to find Dick Butera
1:06:01 > 1:06:05and tried to increase the bet another 5,000.
1:06:05 > 1:06:08Dick turned it down. He thought it was a trap.
1:06:21 > 1:06:23CHEERING
1:06:23 > 1:06:27It was Bobby Riggs' idea to have five sets in this match.
1:06:27 > 1:06:29He thought he could wear her down
1:06:29 > 1:06:33and that she wasn't going to beat him, as good a shape as he was in.
1:06:34 > 1:06:36BOBBY: I haven't even put in my A game yet.
1:06:36 > 1:06:40I'll be here every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
1:06:43 > 1:06:46If I have to go five sets, I don't know what will happen.
1:06:49 > 1:06:51COMMENTATOR: Game, Mr Riggs.
1:06:53 > 1:06:57PUNDIT: A very important breakthrough for Bobby, I felt.
1:07:01 > 1:07:03I had to find a way to beat him.
1:07:06 > 1:07:08I was trying to make him run
1:07:08 > 1:07:10and I was also trying to hit the ball very softly.
1:07:10 > 1:07:13I always wanted to keep him stretching and bending.
1:07:19 > 1:07:21MAN: Billie Jean King is just out of there playing
1:07:21 > 1:07:25and she's coming to the net like she always does and she's making volleys.
1:07:25 > 1:07:29He's hitting weak, pathetic passing shots and she's putting the ball away.
1:07:29 > 1:07:31A brilliant display!
1:07:31 > 1:07:34A break for Billie Jean King.
1:07:34 > 1:07:40She matches Bobby Riggs with her own break of service in the second set.
1:07:49 > 1:07:52Bobby wins a game he had to win.
1:07:52 > 1:07:55Two games all, second set.
1:07:55 > 1:07:58Bobby obviously thrives when an opponent is not patient
1:07:58 > 1:08:00and she paid the price.
1:08:01 > 1:08:04I don't think I would have wanted to walk in Billie's shoes
1:08:04 > 1:08:07that night with the pressure that was on her.
1:08:07 > 1:08:09WOMAN: I can't imagine how she withstood it.
1:08:12 > 1:08:16ANOTHER WOMAN: It transcended tennis. I was just in awe of her.
1:08:22 > 1:08:25I was totally motivated.
1:08:25 > 1:08:26This is my heavyweight crown.
1:08:34 > 1:08:37Ms King leads five games to three, second set.
1:08:41 > 1:08:43CHEERING
1:08:43 > 1:08:48Billie Jean King has won the second set.
1:08:48 > 1:08:50She leads two sets to love
1:08:50 > 1:08:53and it is so far a very great night for the ladies.
1:08:57 > 1:09:00When I'm not playing in one tennis tournament,
1:09:00 > 1:09:02I'm travelling to another.
1:09:02 > 1:09:05So I don't have time to fuss with my hair.
1:09:05 > 1:09:07But with Sunbeam's Mist-Stick Curler Styler,
1:09:07 > 1:09:10I can curl my hair anywhere without curlers.
1:09:11 > 1:09:14Now this is enough to curl your hair!
1:09:16 > 1:09:19Once again, we are back live at the Houston Astrodome.
1:09:19 > 1:09:21She can sense the kill.
1:09:24 > 1:09:26MAN: It was vital that he win the match
1:09:26 > 1:09:29if there was going to be any chance for him to have a career.
1:09:30 > 1:09:33PUNDIT: Listen to that crowd now cheering for Riggs.
1:09:33 > 1:09:36I said, if you don't beat her, the ball game is over.
1:09:36 > 1:09:40Win. Win. Burning desire. Win.
1:09:41 > 1:09:45Bobby Riggs fights back with a great stroke.
1:09:45 > 1:09:48Stay up there and fight. Fight.
1:09:48 > 1:09:52Then the guys started to scream at Bobby, "Come on Bobby!"
1:09:54 > 1:09:59Bobby Riggs fighting for everything he's created for himself in playing women.
1:10:02 > 1:10:07I wasn't just playing for myself. This was for everybody.
1:10:07 > 1:10:09- CHEERING AND APPLAUSE - Look at that!
1:10:09 > 1:10:13She's got him right where she wants him now.
1:10:16 > 1:10:19You can't move at 55 like you can at 25 or 35.
1:10:19 > 1:10:21You get older, you lose strength
1:10:21 > 1:10:24and you can't hit the ball as hard as you can when you are younger.
1:10:24 > 1:10:27- Great shot. Great shot!- Marvellous!
1:10:27 > 1:10:29Game - Miss King.
1:10:29 > 1:10:32CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:10:32 > 1:10:35MAN: 'Billie Jean King charges around the court very much like a man.
1:10:37 > 1:10:41'The weaker sex and they still wanted a seat in the bus.'
1:10:43 > 1:10:46You don't know what the hell you want, do you?
1:10:55 > 1:10:58CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:10:58 > 1:11:01Oh, that's beautiful stuff. Again, off that backhand.
1:11:01 > 1:11:05She's been perfectly brilliant all night.
1:11:05 > 1:11:08All I have to do is get this ball over the net.
1:11:15 > 1:11:20GROANING Back to deuce. Too eager.
1:11:20 > 1:11:24'What makes you think that I won't be able to psych you out of the match?'
1:11:36 > 1:11:39- I heard that sigh of relief from Bobby from here.- Yeah.
1:11:39 > 1:11:41Advantage Riggs.
1:11:46 > 1:11:50And there, that's the kind of tennis
1:11:50 > 1:11:53we've had from Billie Jean all night.
1:11:58 > 1:12:03Fault. Oh, that first service has been a disaster for her all night.
1:12:09 > 1:12:12There is no good time for a double fault,
1:12:12 > 1:12:16- but there can be a disastrous time. - Match point for Billie Jean King.
1:12:16 > 1:12:20You have to finish. It's so hard to finish in anything in life.
1:12:31 > 1:12:34CHEERING ERUPTS
1:12:45 > 1:12:49When he jumped over the net, the first thing he said to me was, "I underestimated you."
1:12:53 > 1:12:58I did feel proud. It was a great leap forward for women's tennis.
1:12:59 > 1:13:02Because this match was presented as the battle of the sexes,
1:13:02 > 1:13:08when she won, it was a great symbolic victory for all women.
1:13:08 > 1:13:10I also think it was great for Billie Jean because it took her
1:13:10 > 1:13:15to an entirely different level and showed strength of this woman's character.
1:13:16 > 1:13:20He was pretty embarrassed that he performed so poorly
1:13:20 > 1:13:22and that he let a lot of people down.
1:13:23 > 1:13:24I'll never live it down.
1:13:24 > 1:13:27'They don't remember Bobby Riggs cos he won Wimbledon.
1:13:27 > 1:13:29'Hey, he's the guy that got killed by the woman.'
1:13:36 > 1:13:3820 years later, he had a different perspective on it.
1:13:38 > 1:13:39He said, "You know what,
1:13:39 > 1:13:42"maybe I actually help the women instead of hurting them."
1:13:47 > 1:13:52Women really felt that they had won, that they were equal.
1:13:52 > 1:13:55It really made a big difference across the board,
1:13:55 > 1:14:00not just in women's sports, but in the business world, in the home.
1:14:00 > 1:14:04They had the confidence to go and ask for what they felt they should have.
1:14:08 > 1:14:11THUNDEROUS CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1:14:15 > 1:14:19I wanted people to respect women a lot more.
1:14:19 > 1:14:22I think a lot of men started to think about things differently.
1:14:22 > 1:14:26The men who've raised daughters since they were young and watched that match,
1:14:26 > 1:14:28I think it changed their life.
1:14:28 > 1:14:31If this match did that, then I'm happy.
1:14:36 > 1:14:40I recall once I got a book called, You've Come A Long Way Baby,
1:14:40 > 1:14:43and I just remember staying up one night, just reading the whole
1:14:43 > 1:14:47book from cover to cover and just being so amazed at the whole story.
1:14:47 > 1:14:51We owe the tour to Billie Jean King and the original nine and everyone
1:14:51 > 1:14:53that made all those sacrifices
1:14:53 > 1:14:55to make this tour that we play on.
1:14:55 > 1:14:59I mean, it wouldn't exist if it weren't for those amazing people.
1:14:59 > 1:15:01I have so much respect for Billie Jean King
1:15:01 > 1:15:04and that generation who risked their careers,
1:15:04 > 1:15:05who played for one dollar.
1:15:06 > 1:15:10Because of the way they fought, my generation now is living the dream.
1:15:10 > 1:15:13Billie Jean King has done so much for sport.
1:15:13 > 1:15:17And it's one of the things that she always talks about, the importance
1:15:17 > 1:15:21of doing good for the next generation that comes up, and that was her goal.
1:15:21 > 1:15:25I personally think that it wouldn't be so international,
1:15:25 > 1:15:28it wouldn't be so globally recognised.
1:15:28 > 1:15:30It certainly wouldn't be where it is today.
1:15:30 > 1:15:34I don't know what it was like for Billie Jean King to play
1:15:34 > 1:15:36Bobby Riggs in that huge stadium in Houston.
1:15:36 > 1:15:39She must've been nervous, it must have been a lot of pressure
1:15:39 > 1:15:42because Bobby Riggs was talking a lot of smack.
1:15:43 > 1:15:46But being the hero that she is, you know, she stood up for us,
1:15:46 > 1:15:48she stood up for women's sports, not just tennis,
1:15:48 > 1:15:51but women's sports and just women in general.
1:15:51 > 1:15:53I have a job because of Billie Jean King,
1:15:53 > 1:15:56and a job that I love and it's the truth.
1:16:12 > 1:16:16OBAMA: These are the 2009 recipients of the Medal of Freedom.
1:16:16 > 1:16:18They remind us that we each have it within our powers
1:16:18 > 1:16:21to fulfil dreams, to advance the dreams of others
1:16:21 > 1:16:23and to remake the world for our children.
1:16:23 > 1:16:26WOMAN: Billie Jean Moffitt King has advanced the struggle
1:16:26 > 1:16:29for a greater gender equality around the world.
1:16:29 > 1:16:31In an age of male dominated sports...
1:16:31 > 1:16:35OBAMA: 'I still remember that game with Bobby Riggs and I was rooting for Billie Jean.
1:16:35 > 1:16:38'And that was really a big cultural moment for the country.'
1:16:38 > 1:16:41..Her athletic acumen is matched only by her unwavering
1:16:41 > 1:16:43defence of equal rights.
1:16:43 > 1:16:45With Billie Jean King pushing us,
1:16:45 > 1:16:47the road ahead will be smoother for women,
1:16:47 > 1:16:51the future will be brighter for LGBT Americans
1:16:51 > 1:16:54and our nation's commitment to equality will be stronger for all.
1:16:56 > 1:17:00APPLAUSE AND CHEERING