50 Years After Her Historic Battle, American Tennis Legend’s Relentless Grit Gets Lauded With a Poignant Observation on Harsh WTA Reality

It was the year 1973. One of tennis’ most popular matches, the Battle of the Sexes, took place that year. American legend, Billie Jean King was up against Bobby Riggs. Not only was the former fighting the battle on the court but also off the court. She was at the forefront of the battle for equal prize money for male and female players. King famously went on to defeat Riggs in that match which was the most-watched televised sports event of all time.

Recently, WTA star, Ons Jabeur, had a wonderful message for King on a special occasion. Today, it marked the 50th anniversary of the Battle of the Sexes. King’s victory over Riggs was a turning point in women’s sports history. To mark this occasion, Jabeur was all praise for the tennis legend.

What did Ons Jabeur say about Billie Jean King?

As the Battle of the Sexes completed 5 decades, Jabeur reminisced about the historic feat with a special mention of Billie Jean King. She took to her official Instagram handle, where she posted a series of stories, heaping praise on the tennis legend.

In the first story, Jabeur shared a rare picture of King after her victory in the Battle of the Sexes. Additionally, she wrote, “50 years ago today, on September 20, 1973, @BillieJeanKing defeated Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes, a tennis match watched by 90 million people worldwide,” explaining to her fans what made the event a memorable one.

In the subsequent story, Jabeur shared her picture with the tennis legend while saying, “The work is not done, but today we celebrate greatness. She won, we won. Thank you @billiejeanking.”

Not just Jabeur, King has received massive applause from all across the tennis community after her massive win completed 50 years. Additionally, heartening $50,000 news broke out, honoring King on the special occasion, following which she revealed her feelings.

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50th anniversary of Battle of the Sexes marked with heartening $50,000 news

King’s win in the Battle of the Sexes catalyzed her fight for abolishing the gender-based pay gap. As the historic event marked 50 years,  People and e.l.f. Cosmetics has decided to honor the tennis legend at the Women Changing the Game event being hosted in Manhattan. Additionally, the latter will donate $50,000 to King’s foundation as it marked 50 years of the glorious event in sporting history.

Following King’s win in the Battle of the Sexes, she was paid $25,000 as prize money. It was a historic moment as it was the first time a woman had been paid the same amount as a man for winning. Her fight later spread across Grand Slams, with the US Open, followed by other major tournaments, adopting equal prize money for both, men and women.

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