» Other Sports » Elton John and Billie Jean King and Other Tennis Greats Gather In Philadelphis to Benefit the Elton John AIDS Awareness Foundation
Elton John and Billie Jean King and Other Tennis Greats Gather In Philadelphis to Benefit the Elton John AIDS Awareness Foundation
Story by: Deborah leung
Posted October 10, 2007
Photos by: Benjamin rogers
Philadelphia, PA--
They are in their early 60s, but Billie Jean King and Elton John had no problem holding court at a pair of news conferences before the Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits charity event yesterday.
"The electricity that we generate between the two of us could probably light up Philadelphia for a whole week," said John, who scored a No. 1 hit with his 1975 song "Philadelphia Freedom." The 60-year-old music legend and his 63-year-old tennis counterpart helped bring star power to the 15th annual fund-raiser last night.
John and King co hosted the event at Villanova's Pavilion in front of a crowd of 4,156. The fans saw eight current and former tennis players, including Andy Roddick, Lindsay Davenport, Anna Kournikova and Patrick McEnroe. The two longtime friends also served as coaches for the four-player teams. The $400,000 raised from this year's Smash Hits benefited the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Action AIDS; a local charity that is the state's largest AIDS service organization.
he event, which has raised more than $8 million for John's foundation since 1993, was held at the Pavilion in 2002. John and King both said they feel a strong connection to the city. "The reason we came here to Philly I think is pretty obvious," King said. "Elton and I absolutely love Philadelphia."
Participating in her first Smash Hits event, Madison Brengle also felt close to home.
The 17-year-old from Dover, Del., lived out a dream when she warmed up against Davenport and Corina Morariu, a two-time Grand Slam doubles title winner. "It's really neat for me, because I loved to watch them play when I was coming up," she said. "It's an honor to be here."
Brengle and Morariu played on Team Billie Jean with Roddick and Luke Jensen. Heading into this year's event, King's team had five consecutive wins against Team Elton, which consisted of Davenport, Kournikova, McEnroe and John Isner. But Team Elton ended the streak with a 20-18 win in a tiebreaker.
Roddick, who played for John's squad last year, suited up for Team Billie Jean this time. He said King has been an avid supporter of his career.
"Whenever I've played a tough match or have a good result, the first person who I get a text message from is Billie Jean," Roddick said. "She's been so good to me throughout my career." "I've always admired Billie Jean so much for her effort and enthusiasm," McEnroe said. "When you combine that with Elton and his foundation and what that's trying to do, it's a perfect combination." The impact of the event wasn't lost on Morariu.
In 2002, Morariu was the WTA comeback player of the year after recovering from acute promyelocytic leukemia.” I understand how important the money is because it goes to helping people who are going through similar things that I have," she said. "It's something that's very close to my heart."
King and John plan to keep it going. "We'll be doing this until we're in the ground," John said. "And hopefully, a long time after we're in the ground, the foundation will continue."
Elton John Puts Together a Class Tennis Act Every Year to Benefit the Awareness of AIDS and the Elton John Foundtion for AIDS Awareness
