And it may have been part of the setup.
A big movie at the time was “The Sting” starring Robert Redford and Paul Neuman.
This maybe the real life version of the sting with Riggs and the American Public as the “mark”
Hmmmm. I watched the match. I seem to recall that King was playing with a single’s court. Rigs was defending a doubles court with the alleys. Hmmmm. Time for some research.
Gwjack