By reputation, and sometimes by deed, tennis players are often among the most self-centered of all professional athletes.

But in the 12 years since the World Team Tennis Smash Hits charity event was founded by pop star Elton John and former tennis great Billie Jean King, that perception has been altered dramatically.

The image of the selfish, self-absorbed pro tennis player took another hit on November 7, 2005 when, led by Elton, Billy Jean King, Andy Roddick and Anna Kournikova, Smash Hits rolled into the Giant Center for a night of tennis to benefit national and local AIDS charities.

From both a fund-raising and an entertainment standpoint, the event was, well, a smash hit, raising $850,000 to be divided between the Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National AIDS Fund and the Greater Harrisburg AIDS Fund.

“I hope it gets a lot of funds for AIDS,” said Elton, of his hopes for the event, at a pre-match press conference. “We like to leave about 50 percent of the funds in the local area. Pennsylvania has been very forward-thinking, I hope it gets its just rewards for this.”

Those in attendance were rewarded as well, treated to an entertaining battle between Team Billie Jean (Roddick, Wayne native Lisa Raymond, Samantha Stosur, Ellis Ferreira) and Team Elton (Kournikova, Martina Hingis, James Blake, Thomas Blake) that went to Team Billie Jean by a score of 25-20. The event was contested under the WTT scoring format and featured men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles matches.

But, of course, the night was ultimately about the stars doing their part to help those afflicted with AIDS.

“It’s just amazing how great the players have been,” said King. “We’ve raised seven million dollars so far (since Smash Hits was founded), and it wouldn’t happen without the players. Tennis players do give back a lot, even though we don’t have that reputation. But believe me, we do.”

“I’ve tried to support it as much as I could,” said Raymond, along with Stosur, one half of the 2005 U.S. Open women’s doubles champions. “When I was asked to play it was a no-brainer. It’s a great cause.”

Roddick, in particular, went the extra mile to make it to Hershey to take part, having only returned from Paris, where he was playing in an ATP Tour event, one day before.

“It’s not out of the ordinary for what we do,” said Roddick, shrugging off the hectic travel schedule as part of the life of a pro tennis player.

The most heralded player in the event, Roddick, currently ranked No. 3 in the world, was also the most entertaining, playfully bantering with players and fans alike throughout the three-hour event and clearly enjoying the break from the intensity of life on the pro tour.

“This event is fun because it allows us to be more interactive with the fans,” Roddick said. “And it’s fun to interact with a team, since we’re usually playing for ourselves. That being said, we’re also athletes, and we want to win.”

Roddick was able to satisfy his appetite for victory, capping off the night and clinching the match for Team Billie Jean with a singles victory over Blake, the Harvard grad who made a thrilling run to the semifinals at this year’s U.S. Open before falling to Andre Agassi in five sets.

Roddick was also victorious in men’s doubles with Ferreira, defeating the Blake brothers 5-4, and in mixed doubles, as he and Raymond got past Blake and Kournikova by a set score of 5-3.

In women’s singles, Stosur defeated Hingis, the former world No. 1, 5-4, then teamed up with Raymond for a 5-3 triumph over Hingis and Kournikova.

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