World Team Tennis Spotlight: McEnroe Defeats Agassi to Lead Team Billie Jean to 23-17 Win at ADT WTT Smash Hits Event Raises More Than $400,000 for Charity Thursday, September 25, 2003 By Rosie Crews BOSTON - In a battle of American tennis legends, John McEnroe defeated Andre Agassi 5-4 (2) in the final set of men's singles to lead Team Billie Jean King to a 23-17 victory over Team Elton John at the 11th Annual ADT World TeamTennis (WTT) Smash Hits presented by Global NAPs and Convergent Networks at The FleetCenter in Boston tonight. The annual charity event, hosted by Elton John and Billie Jean King, raised more than $400,000 for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and local charity, Massachusetts Community Aids Partnership. The "battle of the titans" showdown between Agassi and McEnroe was the highlight of the event. Agassi posted a 5-3 win in the first set of men's singles but McEnroe rebounded impressively in the final set of the evening for the team victory. The Smash Hits event featured some of tennis' top names competing in the World TeamTennis format. The players, who donated their time, also worked off the court to raise awareness and funds. Before the match, King, John were joined on stage for a live auction, which helped raise over $125,000 of the evening's proceeds. Agassi auctioned off an autographed tennis racquet that went for $8,500 while John McEnroe's one hour tennis lesson sold for $13,000. Elton John also donated a signed piano bench which went for $8,500 while tennis legend Billie Jean King sold one Wimbledon ticket package for the 2003 men's and women's singles finals for $17,000. The evening's tennis action started out with an entertaining women's doubles match-up featuring Anna Kournikova, Chanda Rubin and two top Harvard University stars Susanna Lingman and Courtney Bergman. Rubin and Bergman battled for the win 5-4 (3) to give Team Billie Jean an early lead. Team Billie Jean continued to dominate as McEnroe and Rajeev Ram took on Agassi and upcoming tennis star Brendan Evans to win 5-3 in men's doubles. In mixed doubles, the lineup of McEnroe and Rubin was too strong as they posted an impressive 5-1 win over Agassi and Kournikova. WTT Smash Hits Final Results Women's Doubles: Courtney Bergman / Chanda Rubin (Team Billie Jean) def. Anna Kournikova / Susanna Lingman (Team Elton), 5-4 (3) FINAL TEAM SCORES: Team Billie Jean def. Team Elton, 23-17 2003 ADT WTT Smash Hits Auction Notables $8,500 Autographed tennis racquet signed by Andre Agassi This special night of tennis will featured some of the game's top stars competing in the WTT format. Established in 1992, the Elton John AIDS Foundation is an international non-profit organization funding prevention education and direct patient care services for men, women and children living with or at risk of HIV / AIDS. From 1992-2003, the Foundation has funded more than 2,471 in grants in North America. To date, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has distributed over $40 million to fund HIV / AIDS programs around the world. Since its inception, Smash Hits has raised more than $4 million for the Foundation. ADT Security Services is the title sponsor of the 2003 ADT WTT Smash Hits event. Celebrating its 128th anniversary, ADT Security Services is the largest single provider of electronic security services to more than five million commercial, federal and residential customers throughout the United States. ADT's total security solutions include intrusion, fire protection, closed circuit television, access control, critical condition monitoring, electronic article surveillance and integrated systems. Smash Hits is presented by Global NAPs and Convergent Networks. Global NAPs is a national Competitive Local Exchange Carrier (CLEC) serving high-volume business telephone markets. Convergent Networks is a leading provider of Cohesion broadband voice infrastructure solutions that enable cable operators and competitive carriers to advance the delivery of profitable new voice and data services. Other sponsors include Advanta, Gatorade, HBO Sports, Penn Tennis Balls, The Boston Globe, Altria Group, Inc., and Hotel Marlowe. For more information, please visit the Elton John AIDS Foundation at www.ejaf.org and World TeamTennis at ww.wtt.com. |
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