CHAMPIONSHIP: Lawn tennis championships: From Billie Jean King to Serena Williams
What you need to know:
- BJK was born November 22, 1943. November 22 was also my birth-date, and JFKennedy’s death-date... But, pray, what was a 30 year-old lass doing - whacking away with a tennis racket against a 55 year-old male ‘tennis had-been?
On a date like today - Sept. 20 - a female tennis ‘professional,’ Billie Jean King (BJK), ‘beat’ Bobby Riggs (1918-95) in ‘The Battle of the Sexes’ at the Houston Astrodome in Texas in 1973!
BJK was born November 22, 1943. November 22 was also my birth-date, and JFKennedy’s death-date... But, pray, what was a 30 year-old lass doing - whacking away with a tennis racket against a 55 year-old male ‘tennis had-been??
That match was one of three which pitted male against female tennis players. The others were between Margaret Smith Court (30 years) and Bobby Riggs (May 13, 1973, won by Riggs)... And, Martina Navratilova (35) vs Jimmy Connors (40), September 25, 1992, won by Connors!
This ‘Friendly Fire’ was triggered (no pun intended!) by reports that, 41 years down that undulating ‘lawn tennis lane,’ BJK’s compatriot, Serena Williams (born September 26, 1981), hit an exhilarating high by winning yet another US Open tennis, her sixth! This time, Serena beat Danish Caroline Wozniacki at the ‘USTA Billie Jean King’ (coincidence?) arena in New York, September 7. This entrenched Serena as the World’s Number One - and among the four top tennis professionals! [Mwananchi: September 9, 2014].
By way of background, BJK won the US Open in 1967 against Ann Haydon Jones - and lost to Briton Virginia Wade in 1968! She regained the title in 1971 against Rosemary Casais – and successfully defended it against Kerry Mellville in 1972!
BJK (NOT to be confused with another ‘Billie Jean,’ tennis star Moffit, who lost the US Championship in 1965 to Margaret Smith) again made it to the US Open Finals in 1974, beating Evonne Goolagong, an Aussie!
Talk of the vicissitudes of gamy championships...! BJK was also a shining star in other ‘so-called’ World Tennis Championships. For instance, she was the All-England/Wimbledon Women’s Singles Champ in 1966, ’67 and ’68; as well as in 1972, ’73 and ’75! Ms King featured relatively prominently in the French Open Singles, and was the 1972 Champ...
The year 1975 seems to’ve been the ‘end’ of BJK’s stardom in professional tennis. In due course, she was eclipsed by ‘future’ stars the likes of Chris Evert; Martina Navratilova; Steffi Graff; Monica Seles; Evonne Goolagong - and, ‘Fast-Forward’ to the Williams Sisters, Serena and Venus!
Tanzania’s never been world-famous in the lawn tennis stakes... In the 1940s-‘50s, ‘Danganyikans’ were familiar with tennis balls, unrelated to ping-pong or lawn/court tennis. Tennis balls were used on mini-football pitches instead of conventional soccer balls (27-28-inch circumference, 14-15 ounces).
A tennis ball cost a shilling then - and, at the end of the game, one pocketed it and walked away contentedly whistling under one’s breath ‘celebrating’ a day well-spent without mischief (not to be confused with ‘Miss Chief,’ daughter of the local Mangi!] Alas, in today’s Tanzania, ‘The Young Ones’ (crooner Harry Webb-alias-Cliff Richard pardon!) can’t afford even a tennis ball on their improvised soccer ‘pitches.’ They’ve to make do with discarded rags tied into ball-shapes with string...
Talk of ‘Maisha Bora kwa kila m-Tanzania:’ a better life for all Tanzanians... What political naiveté, sacrilege!
