08/17/98 BILLY JEAN KING: 'YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE PEOPLE A SPECTACLE'

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BILLY JEAN KING: 'YOU'VE GOT TO GIVE PEOPLE A SPECTACLE'

Twenty-five years ago, in a defining moment for women's sports, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs in the ''Battle of the Sexes,'' which still holds the record as the most heavily attended tennis match in history. Recently, King, founder of the Women's Tennis Assn. and co-founder/director of the DuPont World TeamTennis pro league, talked with Senior Editor Ciro Scotti about the new turn women's tennis is taking.
Q: [Arnon Milchan] seems to want to turn women tennis players into the Spice Girls of sports. Isn't that exactly what you didn't want to do?
A: Oh, no. I don't care about that. Just the opposite. Why do you think I let them carry me out on that litter at the Riggs match?
Q: You think it's O.K.?
A: Oh, absolutely. It's showtime. It's fun. You've got to give people a spectacle. The trouble is, the girls aren't going to be the Spice Girls and still win tennis matches. I've got news for you: Being a professional athlete is a full-time job. If they think they're going to be in movies and they're going to do their sports, they won't be able to maintain their performance level.
Q: So the reason you go to a tennis match isn't to see a good tennis player, it's to see a sexy tennis player?
A: Sex is a part of it. I mean, if someone is really good-looking...God bless 'em. They got lucky. They're going to get more. What I don't want is it to always be just the cute woman. I would like both. The only reason the good-looking women get recognized at all is that they're really good. Take [Anna] Kournikova. She would not be getting all this attention if she didn't play great tennis. She wouldn't.

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