Give Me the Ball! review – tennis trailblazer Billie Jean King is ferocious force for equality

Sparky and engaging documentary about the ‘battle of the sexes’ player, who fought her whole career to ensure the women’s game got the respect it deserved

After the engaging Evert and Navratilova documentary Chris and Martina: The Final Set comes this watchable and engaging documentary portrait of Billie Jean King. It includes sparky talking-head contributions from the woman herself, in her vivid red glasses, one of many sets that she apparently carries in a separate accessory case – perhaps the influence of her old friend Elton John. There is also, of course, ample (if familiar) archive footage of her amazing climb to greatness and pop-cultural political importance. And as always with tennis documentaries, it is the British viewers, not the Americans, who can appreciate the unmistakable BBC-commentating voice of Dan Maskell.

King (née Moffitt) was a ferocious force in women’s tennis from the 60s onwards and a vehement but polite advocate for equal rights on prize money. The women’s game was equally skilful, though not possessed of the same brutal brawn-power, and sold as many stadium seats. King sensationally helped to launch the Virginia Slims women’s tour – one of the great commercial revolutions in US sports, and had to work hard on promotion and sponsorship at the same time as simply training and playing. And while all this was happening, she had to come to terms with her gay sexuality, while married to the poignantly devoted Larry King, who is a gallantly supportive interviewee here.

But it was Larry, in 1972, who revealed to the world his wife’s abortion without consulting her, and she had to face a sorrowingly disapproving press, whose prurient opposition was probably tempered only by the fact that the abortion happened within the bond of matrimony, and so enclosed within some kind of medical privacy. And in 1973 she won a colossally publicised “battle of the sexes” contest with the egregious huckster Bobby Riggs, entertainingly dramatised in 2017 with Emma Stone and Steve Carell in the starring roles. The film reminds us that sexism was so ingrained and normalised that, incredibly, TV commentator Howard Cosell actually put his arm round Rosie Casals while interviewing her during the match, surely one of the creepiest moments in US television history.

In the 80s, King was put through another ordeal when her vengeful ex-partner Marilyn Barnett sued for “galimony”, thus revealing King’s sexuality to the world, which again she had to face out at a press conference in the company of her husband and bewildered parents. This is an enjoyable film, though I was surprised that no male tennis player could be found to praise King’s importance, not even the otherwise ubiquitous John McEnroe.