INDIAN WELLS, Calif – Tennis possesses star power and on occasion knows how to put it good use -- even if a clash of personalities almost carried this occasion over the edge of good taste. But the fact that two of the biggest names on show don't seem to like each other didn't hurt the cause. In fact, in the long run, it will probably ensure that even more money is raised for Haiti's earthquake victims.
Sporting names don't come much bigger than Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras -- oh, did I miss Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin and Lindsay Davenport? They were all there on Center Court at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Friday night to raise a million dollars for Haiti.
A packed house of 16,000 acclaimed them all and then reserved a special cheer for a little red-headed Australian named Rod Laver, who emerged to toss the coin for the men's doubles. The four men have, to date, accumulated 44 Grand Slam titles between them and they took care of the fact that the four women had won 50 by getting Laver in their picture. That bumped up their total by another 11.
It would be difficult to envisage a greater gathering of outstanding individual sporting achievers and many spoke eloquently of why they were there.
Agassi, talking on court, was blunt. "People in Haiti are still homeless and the rainy season is coming," he said.
Earlier, Federer spoke of the good fortune of a tennis player's life.
"I know we live in a good world and a lucky world," he said. "And yet we still sometimes tend to complain, you know, because ... for no reason. I did a trip myself on February 12th to Ethiopia and it's just nice to know you can help others. Obviously I'm in this fortunate position that I can help in a big way and I'm happy to do so. I think every human who has an opportunity should give something back -- if it's time, if it's money or just inspiring others. I think it's really important because the majority of the world does live in poor conditions."
On court, things lightened up -- for a while. The players were miked up so everyone heard the repartee. "You're not very intimidating, you know," said Agassi as he prepared to receive Federer's serve. "You're very Swiss."
That was a cue for an amazing rally in which Agassi unleashed a torrent of blockbuster forehands at Federer, who stood at the net and volleyed about 10 of them until, suddenly changing the angle of his racket head and undercutting the ball, he came up with a miraculously angled winner.
"You're good," said Agassi.
Verbally, Agassi was in top form. "You know what kids watching this are thinking? 'Who are those two bald guys playing with Federer and Nadal?'"
Sampras objected to that. "Hey, I've still got a little left," he retorted.
But soon Sampras had something a little more serious to object to as Agassi turned up the heat in their personal rivalry and things got a bit nasty. In his best-selling book, Agassi had accused Sampras of being tight with his money and a poor tipper. After Sampras had responded to some provocative comments from Andre by imitating Agassi's style, Andre pulled the lining of his pockets out and said, "I don't have any money."
Clearly embarrassed, Sampras called out, "OK, so I'm a poor tipper. Sorry, Barack Obama." Yes, the differences between the two of them extend to the Republican-Democrat divide, too.
At its touchiest moments, Federer and Nadal looked embarrassed and, on Tennis Channel, Tracy Austin pointed out how rare it is to have two huge rivals enjoying the kind of warm, hugely respectful relationship that exists between the Swiss and the Spaniard. Austin harked back to the days of John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors -- no love lost there -- and Ivan Lendl. "No love at all," said Austin.
With a wholly appropriate song, the ageless Tony Bennett appeared and warmed up an atmosphere that had suddenly gone a little chilly with a rendition of "Smile" before Larry Ellison, ranked No 6 on the list of the world's richest people, presented the Red Cross with a check for $1 million. Ellison, who plays with former pro Sandy Mayer five times a week, has just bought the BNP Paribas Open from Charlie Pasarell and Ray Moore.
Henin joined in the spirit of the things when the women played their doubles, despite suffering a disappointing second-round loss in the main event to Argentina's Gisela Dulko by 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Henin's brilliant backhand sparkled only intermittently in the desert sunshine and her forehand was frequently all over the place. Dulko kept her nerve, played steady and finished it off with a stunning forehand winner on the run after reaching a delicate Henin half volley.
Henin admitted losing still hurt but added, "It's still a year of transition, you know. It's a year of my coming back. It's only my third tournament and I need a few more, probably a few months to really be at my top. So the goals are very simply to stay healthy; try to enjoy what I'm doing and win as many matches as I can."
Maria Sharapova, another former No 1 on the comeback trail, almost followed Henin out of the draw. The Russian eventually beat her compatriot, Vera Dushevina 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 but it was a struggle and at 15-30 serving at 3-5 in the second set, she was just two points away from defeat.
