BOBBY RIGGS - POST CARD SIGNED CIRCA 1942 - HFSID 275201

BOBBY RIGGS
His pro tennis bid delayed by World War II, Riggs signs for a collector.
Postcard signed: "Sincerely yours/Bobby Riggs", 5½x3¼. Postal card with imprinted 1-cent stamp, postmarked New York, N.Y., July 6, 1942, with ink address (unknown hand) to James Timbers in Wisconsin. Ink captions (unknown hand) above and below signature. Bobby Riggs (1918-1995) won the US Open Tennis Championship twice and Wimbledon once as an amateur (1939, 1941). He turned pro just as the US entered World War II. Pro tennis was inactive during the war, many players, including Riggs, having been drafted, and even tennis equipment in short supply. (More research would be required to determine how Riggs spent his time in the military, but he participated in at least some exhibition tennis matches.) The war over, Riggs won the US professional singles championship (1946-1947, 1949). In the 1950s he made a good living as a tennis and golf hustler, often winning bizarre bets (like promising to compete with a frying pan instead of a racket). In 1973, at age 55, Riggs saw his big chance. He boasted that despite his age, he could beat any woman tennis player in the world. Englishwoman Margaret Court took up his challenge; Riggs soundly defeated a nervous Court in a Mother's Day match. At this point, Billy Jean King took up Riggs' challenge. Learning from Court's tactical mistakes, King whipped Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a highly rated television match. Despite Riggs' boasting which preceded the match, he and King became good friends. She called him often during the final days of his battle with cancer. Mounting taps at left corners. Lightly soiled. Otherwise, fine condition.