Groundbreakers Martina Navratilova (left) and Billie Jean King will be on hand at the World Team Tennis Smash Hits benefit exhibition. Both praise the advances for women in sports and for gay rights, but they agree there’s still more to be accomplished. (Photos by Fred & Susan Mullane/Camerawork USA)
MORE INFO WTT Advanta Smash Hits Oct. 12 Kennesaw State University 1000 Chastain Road 800-514-3849 www.ejaf.org/smashhits08
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Oct 03, 2008  |  By: JIM FARMER  | COMMENTS |   |  

WHEN ELTON JOHN AND BILLIE JEAN KING invite their friends to play tennis, it’s often a marquee event. Next weekend’s Advanta World Team Tennis Smash Hits benefit is no different.

The exhibition boasts a strong lineup -  the legendary Martina Navratilova; the current top-ranked American male player Andy Roddick; and former top 10  player Anna Kournikova, among others.

King and Navratilova are not only two of the all time tennis greats, but women who served as pioneers in the game. King is the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association, the Women’s Sports Foundation and World Team Tennis. She will also always be known for her ability on the court, as well as her 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs, whom she beat in a nationally televised broadcast.

Navratilova holds the open era record for most singles titles and doubles titles. She retired from competition in 2006, winning her last doubles title at the U.S. Open.

And of course, King, Navratilova and John also made inroads in their fields by coming out as gay.

Smash Hits is a fundraiser for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund. 

“I have a soft spot in my heart for those inflicted with HIV and AIDS,” King tells Southern Voice. “I will not rest until we have a cure and can put an end to this global crisis. Events like Smash Hits are a small step in that direction, but we must continue to take small steps in this very big direction.”

Now in its 16th year, the traveling benefit last took place in Atlanta in 2000.

The Smash Hits format includes two teams, one captained by John and the other by King, playing singles, doubles and mixed doubles, preceded by a Celebrity Battles of the Sexes.

“If you have ever seen a World Team Tennis match, you have seen my philosophy of life in action,” King says. “It is men and women competing on a level playing field making equal contributions. World Team Tennis is by far my proudest achievement. It represents everything I have stood for since I was 12 years old. WTT is a big part of my life today and will continue to be.”

KING AND NAVRATILOVA HAVE BEEN friends with John since the ‘70s.

“I first met Elton a couple of weeks before the King/Riggs match in 1973,” King says. “It was at a party in Los Angeles. I was a huge fan of Elton’s, and he and I were too shy to introduce ourselves to one another, so Tonty King, who worked for Elton, introduced us.”

Later, when King went to Wimbledon the following year, there was a note from John waiting for her.

“He came over to the hotel, and we listened to music in his Rolls Royce, which had 28 speakers!” she recalls. “It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship.”

Navratilova met John a few years later at a concert. She laughs when assessing the pop star’s tennis game.

“I love the look on his face when he hits a shot,” Navratilova tells Southern Voice. “His eyes get really big. It cracks me up.”

She also offers a more professional assessment:

“Great forehand, so-so backhand; big first serve; but he bloops the second one in,” she says, noting that the part-time Atlantan is very competitive on court.

Navratilova also lived in Atlanta when the city had a WTT team. The Atlanta Thunder were part of the WTT pro league from 1991-1996, and Navratilova was on the team in the summer of 1991 and 1992.

“I remember it being Hotlanta,” she says. “One of the guys on my team, Marty Davis, actually left footprints on the court because he sweated through his socks.”

She also has other, fonder memories of living here.

“I had a great time,” she says. “The crowds were good, and I made some friends. I rented a Harley and drove it around.”

NAVRATILOVA CAME OUT IN 1981 while she was an active player. That same year, King had to come out when former girlfriend Marilyn Barnett filed a palimony lawsuit against her. These days, King is candid about her sexual orientation and her relationship with former tennis player Ilana Kloss.

Yet only one other female tennis star since has come out while playing -  Amelie Mauresmo, who came out as a lesbian almost 10 years ago.

“The climate is better for gay people, but not that much better,” Navratilova says. “We still have a long way to go.”

On the women’s tour, Navratilova says the lesbian players all ...