Nature Valley Pays Tribute To Battle Of The Sexes

Nature Valley, official partner of British Tennis, created a full-size tennis court in Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherd’s Bush and invited tennis champions, celebrities, social media influencers, and the general public, to get on court and play more tennis.

In the match-up, British women’s number one and Nature Valley brand ambassador Johanna Konta faced former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash in a one-set shoot out. 

The match was inspired by the iconic Billie Jean King vs Bobby Riggs ‘Battle of the Sexes’ 1973 match, which is being re-told in the upcoming film of the same name by Fox Searchlight Pictures, which is released this week.  

Konta ultimately defeated Cash 6-3, in a match overseen by umpire and compere Greg Rusedski, as well as willing ball boys and girls who also joined in the match.

The court was recreated by Nature Valley as part of its wider campaign The Court is Yours – aimed at getting more people back into playing tennis. The event aimed to showcase how tennis can be played in a number of unexpected locations. The activity has been created and managed by creative agency Space.

Arjoon Bose, UK and Northern Europe marketing lead for Nature Valley at General Mills, said: “Tennis is the second most followed sport in Britain with participation on the rise and it’s one of the most exciting times to be involved with it here in Britain. Following on from launching our first ever integrated campaign #TheCourtIsYours this summer, we wanted to elevate and amplify our tennis conversation through the storytelling lens of this movie partnership with ‘Battle of the Sexes’ paying tribute to a landmark event that championed inclusivity and democracy in a sport that we are proud to support here. With the support of an inspirational role model spokesperson like Johanna, we hope to continue to inspire anyone and everyone to go out and to move people from watching to playing because we believe tennis is for everyone and that every surface is a court. Our dream is to eventually have a Nature Valley protein bar in every tennis kit in Britain.”

David Atkinson, managing partner, Space commented: “This experience epitomises what Nature Valley, and The Court is Yours is all about. Whilst Cash vs Konta brought focus to the event through the Battle of the Sexes Crunch Match for the partnership with the movie launch later this week, today was also about showing people that anyone can play tennis, anytime, anywhere, and at any time of the year. It’s been a great privilege to be part of it, and to have collaborated with Nature Valley in their mission with the LTA in bringing more people into tennis.”