Karsten Braasch remembers his “Battle of the Sexes” – but he doesn’t think of a revenge against Serena Williams.
The 23rd. After Borg/McEnroe, Battle of the Sexes tells the story of the best-known gender struggle in tennis, in 1973, between the 55-year-old gambler and spelling victim Bobby Riggs (who had put a fortune on his own Wimbledon victory in 1939) and the 30-year-old Billie Jean King, who just won her toe in Wimbledon. King won in three sovereign sets and thus repayed Margaret Court, who had lost to Riggs a few months earlier.
A “Battle of the Sexes” of the smaller, but in German-speaking regions all the more well-known kind, took place in 1998, on a side square at the Australian Open. Karsten Braasch faced up to the courageous announcement of 17-year-old Serena Williams to beat a male pro outside the top 200.
Braasch was in 203rd place at the time and first defeated Serena 6-1, then her big sister Venus 6-2, but without playing too seriously “My training preparation included a nice round of golf in the morning followed by some cyclists. I showed up on the course in a relaxed manner,”he once remembered. Williams admitted that Braasch would have run into a lot of balls, which would have been Winner on the ladies’ tour.
Braasch is currently working as a trainer – and is still active himself. At this week’s World Championship in Miami he is second this week, currently ranked third in the men’s world ranking of the 50s and has a record of 30 victories with only 2 defeats (there’s more info here),”I love the competition and like to challenge myself. It’s great, especially here in Miami,”Braasch said in advance.
Whether there will be a return match against the Williams-Sisters at some point, however, is in the stars. When asked how he would fight against Serena today during the World Cup,”the cat” denied himself an answer.