Click here for our free newsletter. She's got game, set, match Last year, she dispatched seven foes including the No. 1 player in the world en route to winning the U.S. Open. This year, Serena Williams is taking on tennis bad boy John McEnroe. The betting is that Mac could still hold his own, even against the sisters. But women's tennis has come a long way since 1973, when Billie Jean King whipped Bobby Riggs in the original Battle of the Sexes.
Power is huge.
Serena's serve hits 111 miles per hour on the radar gun, just a bit slower than what the men hit. Fans are taking notice. Television ratings are up, and viewership for Serena's breakthrough performance last year doubled that for the '98 Open. There hasn't been such buzz about American tennis since a loudmouthed kid from Queens, name of McEnroe, ruled Flushing Meadows. Art Samuels Living in the shadows When Marc Singer moved 50 feet underground in 1994, he intended simply to hang out with homeless friends.