Tennis displays exhibitionist streak

We are here in this American Blackpool, where the chips are for gambling, to witness the return of Monica Seles. The former world No 1, who has now been reinstated at the head of the rankings with Steffi Graf, is preparing to make her first public appearance since she was stabbed on a court in Hamburg in April 1993.

On Saturday, Seles, now aged 21, is due to play the semi-retired Martina Navratilova, 38, in an exhibition match. The build-up to the contest, at the Atlantic City Convention Center, is more in keeping with a prize fight than a tennis event, but that is customary when the sport with a country club image goes gladiatorial.

"Return of the Champions", as it is billed, is the most important exhibition match since Billie Jean King struck a mighty blow for the women's game with her victory against Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes" in 1973.

Usually, the stakes are no higher than the pile of cash on offer, but this occasion gives a brilliant young player who has had a traumatic experience the opportunity to discover if she still has the nerve to compete in a big-time atmosphere before she continues her rehabilitation in proper tournaments.

Naturally, security is the first thought that occurs. Seles was knifed in the back by Gunther Parche, an obsessive Graf supporter, while sitting down during a change-over. Since then, bodyguards have been in evidence at courtside in tournaments.

"We never discuss security measures," said Dave Coskey, a media liaison spokesman here. "As soon as you do, it's a breach of security. Let's just say that Atlantic City has had a lot of experience in dealing with major performance artistes and athletes."

While there is always the element of a gimmick when tennis makes an exhibition of itself, it is far less obvious this time than it was when Navratilova last ventured into the realms of the contrived. That was on 25 September 1992, when she played Jimmy Connors, who was grunting his way to greatness before Seles was born.

The match, at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, was a send-up of the King-Riggs confrontation 19 years earlier. Navratilova double-faulted on set point in the first set and lost, 7-5, 6-2, in spite of being allowed two serves to her opponent's one and hitting into a court four feet wider.

At the time, Navratilova was 36, and Connors had just celebrated his 40th birthday. Each player received $500,000 (pounds 315,000) in appearance money, and Connors picked up an extra half-million for his victory.

What made King versus Riggs so special was that the public sensed a genuine grudge match. The largest crowd ever to watch a single tennis match - 30,472 - packed the Houston Astrodome and an estimated 50 million watched on television.

Riggs, the winner of the Wimbledon singles title in 1939, and twice the US champion, was the self-proclaimed "king of male chauvinist pigs". He had goaded King since 1970, when he first challenged her to a match. King resisted, considering that no good purpose could be served by playing a man 26 years her senior.

Margaret Court was Riggs's next target, and the Australian agreed to play him in a nationally televised challenge match in the California resort of Ramona in May 1973. Court, badly affected by nerves, was swept aside by Riggs, 6-2, 6-1.

King "went bananas" on hearing the score and felt that Court had betrayed the cause of women's professional tennis at a crucial stage of the Tour's development. "Things had gotten out of control," King recalled. "I had to play Riggs."

The match, over the best of five sets, was arranged for 20 September. King, 29, triumphed over the 55-year-old Riggs, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, and collected the winner-take-all purse of $100,000. It was, according to Ted Tinling, one of the sport's historians, "probably the most important event in the history of women's tennis."

Seles versus Navratilova, with seating for a 9,000 capacity audience, is a valuable exercise for a different reason. But it does have one thing in common with King versus Riggs. The top price for a seat is $100.