Nick Kyrgios, Roger Federer, Serena Williams, And Many Other Tennis Stars Raised $5 Million For The Australian Bushfire Relief Efforts Last Night
Stars including Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev also played Fast Four doubles at the event that helped to raise almost $4.8 million.
Federer took on Kyrgios in a one-set centrepiece of Wednesday night's event and prevailed 7-6 (8/6). Not that anyone cared about the score.
Last night the big names at the upcoming Aussie Open gathered together to raise money for the Australian bushfire relief efforts. In one night they raised just under $5 million. This all because of Nick Kyrgios' tweet two weeks ago before he sat down for dinner. It's amazing what has transpired since this tweet.
Nick gets too much shit from the world because he slams his racket and yells at the occasional shitty umpire, but he's a good dude at heart and has been at the forefront of pushing tennis players to donate and help out for Australia. He's been a revelation over the last few weeks.
Aside from everyone doing their part last night, Fed and Nadal combined to donate $250,000 themselves and promised to keep things going throughout the tournament. Studs.
Federer also dipped into his own pocket, combining with Nadal to make a $250,000 donation, with fundraising efforts to continue during the Australian Open.
I've been wondering as the bushfires get worse and worse by the day whether the Aussie Open was going to be impacted by it. Qualifying matches have been going on this week in preparation for the start of the two week tournament beginning on Sunday night. In one match a woman named Davila Jakupovic basically collapsed on the floor because she couldn't breathe. That's how bad the air quality is right now in Melbourne. It's the worst in the world.
That's fucking insane. Imagine what's going to happen when a match goes 5 sets and 3 + hours. The next two weeks could be a disaster.
If you want to donate and haven't yet, hit up this link here to save the koalas and help stop the fires: WIRES Emergency Relief Fund