Billie Jean King: ‘There was a lot riding on that match – 90m people were watching’
The tennis legend on the dress she wore during the epic ‘battle of the sexes’ match in 1973
I knew how important it was that I beat Bobby [Riggs in the “battle of the sexes” match in 1973], and I knew I would wear that dress only the one time. This was actually the B-dress – the A-dress was beautiful, but it was scratchy and noisy. Both were made by [the celebrated tennis-dress designer] Ted Tinling. He said: “Don’t worry, I have another option,” and I loved it. It was mint green with mirror detailing, and I wore a blue wristband, which matched the bottom of the dress, along with the blue suede Adidas shoes that I had helped to design. (I had to argue to get shoes in that colour as they had always been made in white.) I love blue and green together because it reminds me of nature and the sky. When I was in art class in ninth grade, I did everything in blue and green for a whole year.
I don’t like it when you see opposing players wearing the same kit; it looks horrible. They don’t think, they just put the clothes on and take the sponsorship cheque. I used to always call my opponent the night before to make sure we wouldn’t look alike. It’s important to the audience, and the audience is everything. I didn’t agree with Serena Williams’ black catsuit being banned [from the French Open] last year either.