NINE FOR IX: VENUS VS. {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The first in this series of nine documentary specials commemorating the 40th anniversary of Title IX, the federal law prohibiting gender discrimination, through the stories of accomplished female athletes as told by female filmmakers. This installment focuses on tennis champion Venus Williams.
In the 1960s and 1970s, tennis player Billie Jean King led the campaign for equal prize money for female players and eventually convinced the U.S. Open to changes its policies, though no other tennis associations followed suit. Young Venus Williams made her professional debut in 1994, making a splash with her unusual height and the speed and power of her playing. Tennis champion John McEnroe notes that tennis is an "elitist" sport, and Williams' introverted attitude, Compton upbringing and "flamboyant" beaded hairstyle raised eyebrows in the sports community, particularly during a memorable 1999 incident in which she was penalized for "distracting" other players with a loose bead. In 2000, however, Williams officially made her mark when she defeated rival Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon – though she was awarded less prize money than the male champion, Pete Sampras.
Williams recalls her childhood tennis idols, such as Zina Garrison, and several experts explain the specific historical significance of the Wimbledon championship, noting that the European mentality about equal pay differs from that of Americans. Male players argue that women play fewer sets – two out of three, rather than three out of five – and bring in lower ticket prices, though the female players counter that they were not the ones to set either of those "rules." Furthermore, female players began to pull in equal or higher television ratings, though some traditionalists argue that women's tennis is simply "less compelling." McEnroe admits that he changed his mind over time, eventually realizing that the women did indeed deserve the same. After the Wimbledon win, Williams soon became "the richest woman in sports" with a number of lucrative endorsement deals, including Reebok; she won the championship again in 2001. She then experienced a two-year slump, however, losing multiple games as she dealt with injuries as well as the tragic murder of her half-sister Yetunde Price in September 2003.
At the same time, Women's Tennis Association President Larry Scott gathered his top ten players and explained that the equal-pay fight required a leader whose celebrity could bring attention and clout to the argument. Williams soon attended a meeting with the French Open and Wimbledon leaders and delivered an improvised speech about the importance of inspiring young girls and boys equally. She then went on to defeat Davenport again – in the longest-ever Wimbledon women's game at nearly three hours – and win for the third time, but again received less than male champion Roger Federer. In 2006, the women's prize money was given a "modest raise," but still remained less than the men's, in what many took as a symbolic gesture.
Other celebrities and politicians got involved with the cause as Williams became a UNESCO advocate, also writing an op-ed about how equal-pay opponents were "on the wrong side of history." Janet Anderson brought the issue to the floor of the British Parliament and earned Prime Minister Tony Blair's support. King recalls learning the good news that the Wimbledon association had finally caved and agreed to equal prize money. In 2007, appropriately enough, Williams became the first woman to receive the equal amount as she won her fourth championship, and the commentators note that Williams, seen as an outsider in the tennis world, was just the right person to "step outside the sport" and highlight the need for change. The film concludes by noting that Williams then went on to win a fifth time in 2008. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ESPN
- DATE: July 2, 2013 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:53:27
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 114786
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Sports; Women's Collection - News/Talk/Docs; Public affairs/Documentaries; Sports; Tennis; Women athletes
- SERIES RUN: ESPN - TV series, 2013
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robin Roberts … Executive Producer
- Jane Rosenthal … Executive Producer
- John Dahl … Executive Producer
- Connor Schell … Executive Producer
- Bill Simmons … Executive Producer
- Ava DuVernay … Producer, Director
- Howard Barish … Producer
- Al Smith … Producer
- Patty Simonetta … Producer
- Deirdre Fenton … Producer
- Libby Geist … Producer
- Carol Stiff … Producer
- Tilane Jones … Co-Producer
- Jenna Anthony … Associate Producer
- Kathryn Bostic … Music by
- Riddlore … Music by
- Aybee … Music by
- Omid Walizadeh … Music by
- Billie Jean King … Interviewee
- Howard Bryant … Interviewee
- Venus Williams … Interviewee
- John McEnroe … Interviewee
- Larry Scott … Interviewee
- Janet Anderson … Interviewee
- Lindsay Davenport
- Zina Garrison
- Yetunde Price
- Pete Sampras
- Serena Williams