All this coincided with the run-up to and aftermath of the 1972 Title IX law, designed to prohibit sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, including sports. Riggs, a compulsive gambler (Elisabeth Shue plays his wife, fed up but still fond of the lunkhead), gets King's rival champ, Margaret Court, to play him in a match that came to be known as the "Mother's Day Massacre." Riggs prevailed that day. King, who'd turned Riggs down a few times, agreed to a match. If she could take care of Riggs, keep him hustling all over the court to the point of fatigue, King figured a win might change the country's thinking on a lot of fronts.