Battle of the sexes tennis match

ESL Lessons: True Stories

A printable worksheet for story-based English conversation classes.

Difficulty: Intermediate B1

PDF: Battle of the sexes tennis match

Warm-up

Have you ever played or watched tennis? (Yes, I have...)

Vocabulary Match

prove •• winner
victory •• win against
justice •• demonstrate
compete •• fairness
champion •• win
beat •• challenge

Vocabulary Answers

provedemonstrate
victorywin
justicefairness
competechallenge
championwinner
beatwin against

True Story

Listen and fill in the blanks with words from above.

Fifty years ago, on September 20, 1973, a famous tennis match called the "Battle of the Sexes" happened. Billie Jean King, a top female tennis player, played against Bobby Riggs, a former men's ________. Riggs, who was 55, said he could ________ the best women players. He first played Margaret Court and won easily. After this, King decided to play Riggs to ________ a point.

King believed the match was about more than tennis. She said, "It's about social change and ________." In front of 90 million TV viewers, King won the match in straight sets: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. This ________ was important for women's rights and showed that women could ________ equally in sports.

Fifty years ago, on September 20, 1973, a famous tennis match called the "Battle of the Sexes" happened. Billie Jean King, a top female tennis player, played against Bobby Riggs, a former men's champion. Riggs, who was 55, said he could beat the best women players. He first played Margaret Court and won easily. After this, King decided to play Riggs to prove a point.

King believed the match was about more than tennis. She said, "It's about social change and justice." In front of 90 million TV viewers, King won the match in straight sets: 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. This victory was important for women's rights and showed that women could compete equally in sports.

Quiz

  1. What happened 50 years ago?
  2. Who were the two players in the match?
  3. What did Bobby Riggs say about women players?
  4. How many TV viewers watched the match?

Quiz Answers (examples)

  1. A famous tennis match called the "Battle of the Sexes" happened.
  2. Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.
  3. He said he could beat the best women players.
  4. 90 million TV viewers.

True or False

  1. Margaret Court easily won the match against Bobby Riggs. T F
  2. Bobby Riggs was 55 years old during the match. T F
  3. The match was important for women's rights. T F

True or False Answers

  1. False
  2. True
  3. True

Conversation

A:Hey Bobby, are you ready for our match today?
B:Of course, Billie. I hope you're ready to lose!
A:We'll see about that. I'm here to prove a point.
B:A point? I thought we were just playing tennis.
A:It's more than tennis, Bobby. It's about fairness.
B:Alright, let's see who wins. Game on!

Discussion

  1. Do you think men and women should compete together in sports?
  2. Should men and women get equal pay in sports?
  3. What successful athletes would make a great couple?
  4. If you were the opposite sex, do you think your hobbies would be different?

Further Reading

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/09/20/sport/battle-of-the-sexes-tennis-match-billie-jean-king/index.html

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