Opinion | Battle that women deserved to win

Is there any battle older than the one between the sexes? It's as old as humanity and even in these so-called enlightened times of ours it is still being fought. Forty years ago a decisive blow was thought to be landed for women's rights when 29-year-old Billie Jean King soundly defeated 55-year-old former Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs in a prime-time tennis match that was watched by over 50 million viewers in the US.

Despite the disparity in ages, the fallout of King's victory has been cited as the impetus for pay equality among men and women players and one week from today - weather permitting - the winners of the US Open, both male and female, will be crowned on the courts of the Arthur Ashe Stadium at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre.

Three months shy of her 70th birthday, King has long been a respected and visible presence during the US Open fortnight. But as the 2013 Open kicked off this past week she found herself suddenly on the defensive when a story on ESPN claimed that Riggs threw the match 40 years ago to cover his substantial gambling debts to the mob.

According to the report, Riggs claimed he would first beat world number one Margaret Court, which he did convincingly in straight sets, and then play King for really big bucks. A conversation from a group of mobsters at a golf club in Tampa, Florida, about Riggs offering to tank in order to wipe clear his debts was overheard by a gentleman who has sat on it for 40 years out of fear for his life.

All the mobsters involved and Riggs, who passed away 18 years ago, are long gone now. However, the notion of Riggs tanking has been floating around for years and anybody who watched the much-ballyhooed match can see his effort was certainly sub-par.