How Bobby Runs and Talks, Talks, Talks

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In all his mad peregrinations, Riggs never neglects the main business at hand, which is to promote the match with King and, if possible, to get King's goat. He recently appeared in a pro-celebrity tournament at Forest Hills, N.Y., playing in granny rags. He even has gone so far as to call King a "loudmouth," which is rather like Linda Lovelace calling Alice Cooper an exhibitionist. Riggs promises to "psych her out of her socks." Ah, he gloats, how about this: "I get the biggest funeral wreath you ever saw, and I wear black crape all over during the match and put a casket on the side of the court with a dummy in it. After she loses, I'll bury her once and for all."

When King said, "I don't care if you show up in a jock strap," Riggs had pictures made of himself clad only in a supporter. If it has contributed nothing substantial to the history of sexism in the '70s, the Riggs-King repartee has at least lent some much-needed humor. Billie Jean cannot resist getting into the spirit occasionally. She calls him "Roberta" and mocks his duck-footed waddle. "I'm pigeon-toed," she says, "so maybe this match should be billed as the duck v. the pigeon."

Neither player, of course, is an easy mark. Riggs has a number of strengths, including total concentration when he plays seriously. His slight deafness helps filter out distractions. He also claims to have an inner eye, a kind of instant pre-play that, he says, allows him to imagine every shot in his mind beforehand. "I've played Billie Jean a dozen times in my mind," he says. "Nothing she can do will be unexpected." A more tangible asset is his complete control over the racket. He can return any shot that he can reach. But, he admits, "If I'm sluggish, she can give me trouble."

Last week Riggs went into full training in San Diego, swearing off liquor and girls for the duration. He is in a regimen of roadwork and practice sets with his Boy Friday, Tennis Pro Lornie Kuhle. He is also on a vitamin-based, high-protein diet planned for him by a Los Angeles nutritionist before the Court match. The program calls for Riggs to take approximately 450 pills a day: 100 black pellets of soybean-wheat germ concentrate, 75 liver-extract pills, 75 plastic phials of pure powdered protein, smaller quantities of vitamins E, C, Bl, B2, B complex, one vitamin A pill and several calcium pills.

While claiming that "there is no way she can beat me," he also delights in ticking off King's ostensible advantages: "A better serve, more quickness, better overhead, backhand and forehand volley, more stamina." He enjoys appearing to be the underdog who cannot lose. Because the format was changed from two sets out of three to three of five—a seeming advantage for the younger player—he claims that the betting odds should drop from 8 to 5 on him to even money. (In Las Vegas, Jimmy the Greek gives Riggs the edge, 5 to 2.)