The 2008 finals of the World Team Tennis championships were held in Georgia this past weekend, with Sir Elton’s team evening the series at 8-8 with a win over Billy Jean King’s team. The real winner was Elton’s AID Foundation and the Atlanta AID’s Partnership which received over $400,000 in donations.

For more than 28 years this ‘fun’ charitable event has been a highlight of the US tennis calendar. Each team is comprised of 2 men and 2 women and a ‘playing’ coach, the events include mens and womens singles and doubles and a mixed doubles match. Sometimes the coaches join in if their team needs a little help or if the crowd demands their participation, but any match that includes the coach is not counted toward the winner’s tally. When Elton John teamed with Andy Roddick to defeat Anna Kournikova and Martina Navratilova, it didn’t count as a win for the Elton John team, but the enthusiastic crowd loved every moment.

The participants in this worthy event read like the who’s who of tennis and include, Andre Agassi, Tracy Austin, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Everet, Steffi Graf, Rod Laver, Anna Kournikova, Patrick Rafter, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Serena and Andre Agassi, Tracy Austin, Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Lindsay Davenport, Chris Everet, Steffi Graf, Rod Laver, Anna Kournikova, Patrick Rafter, John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Monica Seles, Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams.

One of the highlights of this year’s event pitted leading US junior Melanie Oudin against veteran Martina Navratilova in the ladies singles. Melanie who is just 17, and 34 years younger than her opponent managed to squeeze out a victory with a well executed drop shot that Martina failed to reach. It was a shot Melanie had been unable to return on 9 different occasions during the match, and she executed the shot to perfection to win a close game, “it was the greatest experience of my tennis career to be able to play against a legend such as Martina, and winning or losing didn’t matter one bit.”

At the pre-match reception Billy Jean’s centre court Wimbledon seats were auctioned off for $21,000 each, a painting by Martina brought a bid of $17,000, and a secret bid was successful in winning Elton John’s piano bench.

The match results were as follows:

Anna Kournikova/Andy Roddick def. Martina Navratilova/Levine 5-4.

Andy Roddick def, Jesse Levine 5-2, 5-1.

Martina Navratilova/Jesse Levine def. Melanie Oudin/Andy Roddick 5-3.

Melanie Oudin def. Martina Navratilova 5-4.

The World Tennis Team concept was the brain child of Billy Jean King, and was first played 38 years ago to raise funds for charities dealing with AIDS related problems, Womens Equality issues and to help promote tennis among the young and under privileged. The celebrity charitable event is shown on TV each year and raises considerable amounts of money, but the actual team competition is played in the month of July in California. The competition is open to teams from anywhere in the world, and it would be a wonderful addition to have an event such as this one as a part of the upcoming Australian open 2009 in Melbourne.

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