A Competitor And A Clown Walk Onto A Tennis Court In 'Battle Of The Sexes'

In the story of Billie Jean King beating Bobby Riggs, told again in Battle Of The Sexes, it's often forgotten that she didn't particularly want to do it. In fact, she didn't do it until Riggs had badly beaten Margaret Court, who was one of the greatest players in women's tennis at the time.

Court, who wasn't invested in feminism the way King was, treated it as an — that even the best women's tennis players couldn't survive anywhere near the top of professional men's tennis. McEnroe doesn't want to say so, but in that interview, it's fairly clear that he believes he could probably beat Serena Williams, even at his age. It's a nearly exact repeat of what Bobby Riggs believed — even though he lost. McEnroe wasn't convinced by what King did. He still believes what Riggs believed: The best women players are inherently inferior at tennis to the point where even old men can beat them.