Rally for Relief: Nadal, Williams, Thiem & Co. raised donations for fires in Australia
With the exhibition "Rally for Relief", tennis stars continued to raise money for the victims of the devastating bush fire in Australia in the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, which was closed due to rain. The global tennis community had previously donated 2.8 million Australian dollars (1.74 million euros).
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jan 15, 2020, 01:38 pm
In the second part of the approximately two and a half hour event, Roger Federer fought a show fight against the Australian Nick Kyrgios over a winning set, which the Swiss won 8: 6 in the tie-break. "But today it was not about winning or losing, but about collecting money and showing people that you can still travel to Australia," said the Swiss.
It was hard and sad to watch the events on the news, said the 38-year-old, who has been traveling "down under" annually for more than two decades. "I am happy if I can help with my time and money." Together with Rafael Nadal, Federer donated 250,000 Australian dollars (around 155,000 euros), at the end of the event the donation stood at almost five million Australian dollars (3.1 million euros).
Before Federer and Kyrgios, the initiator of the fundraising campaign that has been running among players since the start of the season, Nadal and other stars of the scene such as Serena Williams or last year's winners Naomi Osaka and Novak Djokovic had contested a team competition in Fast4 format. Among the nearly 15,000 spectators in the sold-out arena were guests as well as firefighters who had fought the flame inferno across the country in recent weeks.
Servus TV, the broadcaster that broadcasts the Australian Open in Austria, has also set up a donation account . All donations go to the "Rally for Relief".
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Australian Open: postponement? "Don't expect delays"
The air quality in Melbourne in the region was also poor on Wednesday. A postponement of the tournament seems currently impossible. "According to the latest information, the weather forecast is good," said tournament director Craig Tiley, emphasizing: "We do not expect any delays and we have taken additional measures to ensure that the Australian Open can go as planned."
The long-awaited rain came on Wednesday afternoon, which meant that some games had to be rescheduled to Thursday. At times it was raining and storming so violently that Melbourne Airport had to be temporarily closed. Rain has also been announced for Thursday, before it gets warmer and warmer again at the weekend. As a result, the air quality in the city should drop again.