Guest: Rosie Casals, Tennis Champion

If you are a female athlete and you earn money in your sport, you owe some measure of thanks and gratitude to Rosie Casals. This week on Big Conversations, Little Bar hosts Patrick Evans and Randy Florence welcome a pioneer on women’s rights and one hell of a tennis player. From the public courts at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to the cathedral that is Centre Court at Wimbledon, Rosie has had a career envied by many and rivaled by few. 

This Coachella Valley resident is a two-time inductee into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and five-time Wimbledon doubles champion with her partner Billie Jean King. Her 595 singles wins and 508 doubles victories entitled her to the Top-10 rankings in a dozen seasons. Casals is one of the original nine players who worked to start the first professional women’s tennis tour.

On this episode, Randy’s giddiness goes into overdrive when Rosie shares the story of providing commentary on network television alongside Howard Cosell at the famous Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean and that “chauvinist pig” Bobby Riggs. It was perhaps the most famous tennis match ever!

History comes each week from the corner booth in The Center of the Coachella Valley Universe -  Skip Paige’s Little Bar.