1977 US Open - King vs Reid

From a November 1977 World Tennis article by Julie Heldman:

The players thought the Billie Jean King-Kerry Reid match might be the showpiece of the 16s, but obviously the organizers didn't because it was played on an outside court where only about a thousand people (plus the TV audience) could watch. Kerry and Billie have been rivals for 10 years, but their competitive spirit turned bitter at the end of the match when Billie Jean refused to shake hands after winning the third set tiebreaker. The problem stemmed from an incident at 3-all in the final set. After Billie Jean hit a ball over the fence, Kerry walked up to the chair and asked for a penalty point. Informed of the best-kept secret of the tournament to that moment - that the men had agreed to institute penalty points, but a committee of the WTA had quietly voted down the proposal - Kerry then continued to play. At the changeover, Billie Jean asked Kerry what she had done, "but she wouldn't talk to me. I hate it when people don't communicate. Then the umpire wouldn't communicate with me either. He said Kerry asked me a question. That's when I told myself that Kerry would win this match over by dead body, and I wouldn't shake hands if I won. I've never refused to shake hands before." How short our memories are. Billie Jean walked off Court 23 at Forest Hills in 1973 when 4-1 down in the third against me, without shaking hands, saying, "If you want the match that badly, you can have it." Funny how things run in cycles. After the match, Kerry was steaming, furious at her opponent. "If she wanted the match that badly, she could have it," she said.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Billie
• Jean
• King
• Kerry
• Melville
• Reid

[BTURNER1961]

@westendgla. Martina actually said she liked playing on the clay and was raised on the surface. She liked the challenge of crafting the points and using her variety. She reached the french final no less six times winning twice. Three losses to Chris and one to Graf. Of course clay was ill suited to her temperament and style and compared to Evert she had 'limited' success.

[TheVerbalVolley]

Incorrect....It was HANA who declined to shake hands with BJK after their match, which Hana won 7/5 in the 3rd on clay .....Hana said something like "She thought she could win the match, but there was no way..."(?)...Hana was as hot-headed as they come...Even more so than BJK....Nothing wrong with that attribute....

[westendgla]

i never liked the way bjk couldn't win off her own desire to do so. she always used a disputed line call as the fuel for unleashing her agression. another sign where a weakness is misconstrued as a strength. sulking and petulance isn't pretty in adults.

[westendgla]

@BTURNER1961 bjk and navratilova are the same in that respect. plus their sportsmanship is highly questionable at times.

[BTURNER1961]

It must have been frustrating for BJK, who won this title 4 times on grass, and watching the hourglass running down on her career, to see this championship moved to a clay venue, clearly to her disadvantage. She is on record as disliking playing or watching clay court tennis and her mediocre record shows the disdain. She rarely played the French and got to one final which she won. She did not have the groundies or the patience to compete week in/week out.

[sandrovic1970]

I thought that was incredibly rude of BJK at the end, lol! She should have been glad that Kerry got her all worked up or she might not even have won the match. And I bet she got a right royal pasting at the hands of Chris Evert in the next round! But I have to say I always loved BJK and her fiesty attitude.

[suwanee4712]

Another time that BJK wouldn't shake hands was after she lost to Hana Mandlikova in Orlando in 1983. She was mad over some line calls. Not sure if she and Hana had some words or what her exact problem was. I like BJK but she could sulk with the best of them.

[jaytee414]

Love Kerry Reid but love also how her dress goes through every color in this clip..

[dandownunder19]

I always thought BJK played better after getting worked up, whether over a line call or whatever.