Though he had little of the power of Don Budge and Jack Kramer, and though his physique was hardly comparable to that of these six-footers, right-hander Bobby Riggs was one of the smartest, most calculating and resourceful court strategists tennis has seen, particularly in his defensive circumventions. He had a temperament that was unruffled in all circumstances and he hung in the fight without showing a trace of discouragement other than a slight shake of the head. He won the championship at Wimbledon and twice at Forest Hills.
Budge, with his vast power, usually had to work his hardest to turn back the little Californian, whose forte was to subdue the fury of the big hitters. Riggs had both the brains and the shots to quell the cannonaders, particularly the drop shot from both forehand and backhand, and a lob matched by few in the way he masked it and his control of its length. Most often Budge required four sets, if not five, to win when they were amateurs. When they met as pros, Riggs won his full share.
Born February 25, 1918, in Los Angeles, Robert Larimore Riggs first began to make tennis progress at the age of 12, when Dr. Esther Bartosh saw him hitting balls and took over his instruction. In 1934, at 16, he beat Frank Shields, a finalist at Wimbledon and Forest Hills. Two years later Riggs was ranked No. 4 in the country, and he was second to Budge in 1937 and 1938.
Riggs had his best record--the best in the world--in 1939, racking up a triple at Wimbledon the only time he played there, adding the U.S. while winning nine of 13 tournaments and 54-5 in matches. He said he "scraped up every dime I could find" to bet on himself with a London bookmaker to win the three Wimbledon titles, and came off with $108,000.
After yielding his U.S. title to Don McNeill in the 1940 final, he regained it in 194l,beating Frank Kovacs, a spectacular shotmaker. His career as an amateur soon ended. Riggs was in demand on the pro circuit.
In 1942 he competed in the U.S. Pro Championships and lost in the final to Budge. But the next time they met was after World War II, in 1946, and this time Riggs beat Budge in the U.S. Pro final at Forest Hills. They went on tour and Riggs won 24 matches to 22 for Budge. Again in 1947 they met in the final of the Pro Championships and Riggs won in five long sets. Late in the year Jack Kramer made his pro debut at Madison Square Garden in New York and Riggs beat him before a crowd of 15,114 who had plowed through 25 inches of snow in a blizzard. However, Kramer won the tour, 69-20.
After losing to Kramer in the final of the U.S. Pro at Forest Hills and regaining the title in 1949 against Budge, Riggs began to taper off as a player and tried his hand as a promoter when Gussy Moran and Pauline Betz made their debuts as pros in 1950. Years later, in 1973, after fading into virtual obscurity as a senior player who would make a bet on the drop of a hat, Riggs was back, taking on first Margaret Court and then Billie Jean King in mixed singles matches that gave tennis much publicity. He defeated Court, but King made him look like Humpty Dumpty, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3, before a record tennis crowd of 30,472, at Houston's Astrodome. Few things ever fazed Riggs, though, or made him unhappy. And nothing ever made him forget his good manners and sportsmanship in the years when he was playing serious tennis.
He made the World Top Ten, 1937, 1938 and 1939, No. 1 the last year, and the U.S. Top Ten, 1936 through 1941, and was named to the Hall of Fame in 1967 and died October 25, 1995, in Leucadia, California.
