Even if it was taking place on the other side of the world, the Australian Open was reason enough for local tennis fanatics to get into the spirit of the first Grand Slam of 2012. To spur on the action, Team HousingWorks held an event at Roosevelt Island Racquet Club titled, “Uptown Down Under," a tennis tournament benefiting HousingWorks, an organization dedicated to the HIV/AIDS community.
This was their second annual Australian Open-inspired tennis tournament fundraiser, and a few dozen participated in the round-robin doubles tournament. The eventual winner was Michele Drohan who played amazing team tennis en route to her victory. Included in the festivities were hors d’oeuvres, sparkling wine, and raffle prizes of U.S. Open memorabilia provided by the USTA, Duke and UNC gear, and autographed memorabilia.
A raffle prize that one lucky winner went home away with was an autographed tennis shoe by Stan Smith, provided by Stan’s daughter, Austin Smith who was the team captain for the UNC Tarheels. Austin even decided to join in on the fun and participated in the event herself. Ramsey Smith, Austin’s brother and current Duke Blue Devils head tennis coach, did not participate, but was kind enough to donate the Duke raffle prizes.
