Battle of the Sexes (tennis)

Battle of the Sexes I

Margaret Court vs. Bobby Riggs
Set 1 2 Margaret Court 2 1 Bobby Riggs 6 6
Date	May 13, 1973
Location	Ramona, California[1]

Battle of the Sexes II

Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs
Set 1 2 3 Billie Jean King 6 6 6 Bobby Riggs 4 3 3
Date	September 20, 1973
Location	Astrodome Houston, Texas[2]

Battle of the Sexes III

Martina Navratilova vs. Jimmy Connors
Set 1 2 Martina Navratilova 5 2 Jimmy Connors 7 6
Date	September 25, 1992
Location	Caesars Palace Las Vegas, Nevada[3]

In tennis, "Battle of the Sexes" describes various exhibition matches played between a man and a woman, or a doubles match between two men and two women in one case. The term is most famously used for an internationally televised match in 1973 held at the Houston Astrodome between 55-year-old Bobby Riggs and 29-year-old Billie Jean King,^[4] which King won in three sets.^[2][5] The match was viewed by an estimated fifty million people in the United States and ninety million worldwide.^[6] King's win is considered a milestone in public acceptance of women's tennis.

Two other matches commonly referred to as a "battle of the sexes" include one held four months earlier in 1973 between Riggs and Margaret Court over the best of three sets,^[1][7] and one in 1992 between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova over the best of three sets, with hybrid rules favoring the female player dubbed "The Battle of Champions".^[3] These matches were won by Riggs and Connors, respectively.

At least eight other exhibition matches have been played between notable male and female tennis players starting in 1888, though only some of them were referred to at the time as a "battle of the sexes".