Most of my family has fallen in love with playing tennis recently, and to a slightly lesser degree, watching it. So it was exciting to find out that a benefit event had been put together, bringing four big names in tennis and a few other random celebrities to Asheville. The “Stars Servin’ Up Love” event gave us some up-close, in-person observations of what the pros are capable of, and it was quite remarkable.
On February 2, 2025, Jessica Pegula (ranked #6 in the world at the time), Emma Navarro (#9), Andy Roddick, and Andre Agassi, all showed up and played some seriously awesome tennis, even though it was just an exhibition.
The celebs in attendance, and who also played some decent tennis, included Esai Morales (of Caprica fame), Pete Wentz (Fallout Boy), Jeff Probst (Survivor), and some dude from The Daily Show named Michael Kosta (sorry, I haven’t watched that show in some years).
They raised over a million bucks that day, and much to everyone’s surprise, all of the stars involved did it completely free! Asheville is still recovering from the impacts of the hurricane, and we will be for quite some time. I still drive by the debris, missing buildings, upside-down cars, and devastation multiple times a week…over 4 months later. The whole city still has downed lines, fallen trees, and piles of debris lining the streets. It is slowly getting better, but the reminders are all still there, and the tennis event was a welcome, unifying celebration of what selflessness can do to lift spirits.
Check out some pics from Stars Servin’ Up Love.
Just over a year ago, Rachael and I decided that we’d like to combine our love of escaping the house sans-children with our love of writing. Being fans of fine food and environments that enable us to focus on each other during rare, precious date nights, we thought it might be fun to share our experiences in Asheville with other couples who might be looking for a great spot to escape to, if only for an hour, or if for a whole evening. Plus, it would be a team effort that would allow us to collaborate on something we both love: writing and geeking out.
