1. A WOMAN’S PLACE IS ON TOP: Question: what sport claims an exhibition as its most important match? Answer: women’s tennis. Arguably, the ‘73 Battle of the Sexes remains the most important match in men’s or women’s tennis history. Yet to Bobby Riggs, it was part farce, part hustle, all hype. For Billie Jean King it was a deadly serious showdown; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shout, “I am woman, hear me roar.” And her (“you go, girl”) 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win in Houston’s Astrodome before 30,472 fans (the largest crowd in tennis history) was a triumph that transformed the once-male-dominated world of sports and re-shaped the dynamics of many an office, kitchen and bedroom.
2. THE MATCH THAT MADE CONTINENTS STAND STILL: “Little Miss Poker Face” was just emerging. Helen Wills was a full-of-promise rising star, a never-miss baseliner from the Western outback of Berkeley, California who’d already won two American championships. Suzanne Lenglen – or “La Divine” — was the game’s reigning monarch. Bounding and balletic, she was a grand dame and diva full of operatic drama, who actually dared to play with exposed ankles and bare arms and was prone to keep queens waiting and to swig brandy on changeovers. When the two met in ‘26 on the French Riviera, the much ballyhooed event was dubbed “The Match of the Century” and said to be “a match that made continents stand still and was the most important sporting event of modern times exclusively in the hands of the fair sex.” Crowds from all over the continent descended. Scalpers hovered and eager boys climbed trees to see a chaotic encounter between “The Goddess and the American Girl,” in which the home-standing Lenglen turned back the California invader 6-3, 8-6.
3. THE GREATEST MATCH IN THE GREATEST RIVALRY: What’s the greatest rivalry in the history of American sport? Some say Ali vs. Frazier. Others claim Chamberlain vs. Russell. Maybe Bird vs. Magic. But for tennis lovers it’s Evert vs. Navratilova — the fiercely controlled right-handed American baseliner vs. the emotions-on-her sleeve, left-handed, net-charging Czech-born American. And, of all of their 80 matches, their ‘85 French Open final was the most memorable. Martina was the clear favorite coming into the match. Fit and imposing, she had prevailed in 15 of their last 16 matches and hadn’t lost a Grand Slam final to her rival since ‘82. But America’s Sweetheart wasn’t feeling that sweet. “Martina’s not the only one who can pump iron,” a newly fit Chrisse seemed to shout. Still determined to be on top, the fierce Floridian wisely chipped to Navratilova’s forehand and went on to prevail 6-3, 6-7, 7-5 in an electrifying, seesaw affair. “It was one of the most incredible matches you could ever imagine,” said Martina. “It had everything.” But in the end, when the crushed French clay settled, it was defeat for Martina and a coronation for Chrissie, as the 30-year-old claimed her 17th major and became No. 1 for a fifth and final time.
4. READY FOR PRIMETIME: Big money, big babes, big-time tennis. It was showtime in Flushing as the all-Williams ‘01 U.S. Open final became the first women’s final televised in primetime. While it may not have been the prettiest of their head-to-head matchups (Serena registered 36 unforced errors in a 6-2, 6-4 loss), the sister vs. sister act was must-see TV and drew 23 million viewers – more than tuned in to see Nebraska vs. Notre Dame football.) The sheer enormity of the occasion (Diana Ross sang God Bless America, and Spike Lee, Brandy, Mary Tyler Moore and Joe Torre were among the celebs on hand) was not lost on the final score.
5. BEFORE THE SCREECHING HALT: What promised to be the best post-Evert vs. Navratilova rivalry literally came to a screeching halt when a crazed Steffi Graf fan stabbed Monica Seles in the back. Still, aficionados fondly recall one of the greatest finals in the history of the game — when Seles outlasted Graf 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 in the ‘92 French Open final. Graf saved five match points before losing 10-8 in the third.
6. ‘THE BEST BEGINNING-TO-END MATCH I’VE EVER SEEN’: The Capriati vs. Henin-Hardenne ‘03 U.S. Open semi was a passion play with more ups and downs than a turbulent week on Wall Street. JCap twice served for the match and was two points away from victory on 10 occasions. She screamed at line judges and punched the air to celebrate winners, but a cramping/dehydrated Henin-Hardenne, playing before a raucous American throng, hung on to win in three hours, three minutes 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) at 12:27 a.m. Said Capriati, “When I came off the court, I felt the whole world was coming down on me, and that my heart was being ripped out.” One USTA official dubbed it “the best beginning to end match I’ve ever seen.”
7. ASSAULT!: Israeli Olympians were murdered in Munich in ‘72; Nancy Kerrigan was shamelessly whacked by a goon; and what a shame that one of the most significant tennis matches of all time would be one in which one of its greatest ambassadors was stabbed in the back. What should have been just another forgettable quarterfinal in a ho-hum French Open warm-up tournament proved to be tennis’ gloomy day of infamy. Leading 6-4, 6-3 against Maggie Maleeva in the ‘93 German Open in Hamburg, world No. 1 Seles was stabbed during a changeover by Gunter Parche, a deranged man who didn’t want Seles to stand in the way of rival Steffi Graf’s success. Monica would not return to competitive tennis for more than two years and tennis was robbed of many a great confrontation. “What happened to me had nothing to do with me,” Seles later reflected. “It was out of my control. You have two options: you either go crazy or you just go on and live life. I decided to go on and live life.”
8. HELLO, HAWK-EYE, HELLO: It’s not often that a single match alters an entire sport. But the wretched call Serena Williams suffered at crunch time in the’04 U.S. Open quarters was so egregious that it forever changed how our sport is officiated. A near classic on its own, the Williams-Capriati battle was chock-full of contested calls, spiked rackets, gobs of gamesmanship and power to spare. But in the end it will be remembered as the watershed match that triggered the widespread use of electronic line-calling. Chair ump Mariana Alves blew a crucial third-set call that sent Williams into a tizzy and led mightily to her 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss. “I’m very angry and bitter right now,” said Serena after the match. “I feel cheated. Shall I go on? I just feel robbed.” The USTA later issued an apology and the game soon would come to depend on Hawk-Eye.
9. TEARS ON THE CLAY: Heaving and sobbing, rarely has an athlete so totally lost it. But young Martina Hingis — seemingly all alone out there as a mob-like crowd howled and whistled — broke down as she lost her lead and her composure against Graf in the’99 French Open final. Before the match, the Swiss Miss arrogantly claimed that Graf’s day had come and gone and it was now her time to shine. Martina II did creep within three points of victory. But she was hit with a warning for smashing her racket and penalized a point after questioning a call and (unbelievably) walking over to Graf’s side of the court. Hingis tried everything, including serving underhanded, but after her 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 loss she broke into tears and rushed off court amidst jeers and whistles, only to return, sobbing in her mother’s arms. In contrast, Graf called it “the biggest win I’ve ever had.”
10. COURT RULES!: For decades, Billie Jean King and Margaret Court have gone very different ways. King rarely left the stage. Coach, captain, entrepreneur, advocate and role model – she’s been a (will she ever slow down?) whirlwind. In contrast, Court retreated from the game’s glare to pursue her spiritual quest, becoming an ordained minister in the Pentecostal Christian church. But there was a day, long ago, when the quiet, tall Aussie and the boisterous, compact Yankee were the story of women’s tennis. In particular, at the ‘70 Wimbledon final, Court had to save six match points en route to a 14-12, 11-9 win in perhaps the most dramatic woman’s final ever witnessed at SW 19. She went on to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam and be the world’s undisputed No. 1.
