ATP raises $60,000 for charity through player locker auctions – Tennis News
The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) has kept its norm of contributing towards charity and has recently raised a healthy sum of about $60,000 for the social cause in London. Soon after the conclusion of the season finale,
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, the ATP organised a unique worldwide auction of player lockers to raise money for charities.
The lockers of the top-eight tennis stars, namely Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomas Berdych and Mardy Fish, with personally signed gears and accessories were auctioned
to the tennis lovers all over the globe. The memorabilia were exhibited at the Fan Zone of The O2 Arena throughout the eight days of the mega event.
It has been reported that $57, 261 has been accumulated through the player locker auction and 50 per cent of the amount will be given to the Save the Children organisation, which is the official charity partner of the tournament.
The remaining 50 per cent of the amount will be given to each player’s chosen charitable organisation.
The ATP has always been very active to play its vital part in raising funds for charity and encourages its players to step forward in the field of social services on individual basis as well. Specific awards are given from the
ATP to the players who remain active throughout the season in promoting the sport and contributing towards charity.
This year’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals winner, Federer’s locker attracted the highest bid of $17,800, whereas Nadal’s locker was auctioned out in the second place at $14,800. Justine Forsyth, the Chief Executive of Save the
Children, thanked the sincere efforts of the ATP for raising funds for the noble cause.
“Save the Children is thrilled by the response to the locker room auction at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The lucky winners of the auction now own a piece of tennis history. We want to say thank you to everybody who placed
a bid. All of you contributed to raising a whopping $57,261 which will change the lives of some of the world's poorest children,” said Forsyth.
The auction process was run online throughout the last 10 days to draw tennis fans from all over the world bid for their dream player’s locker. Five Japanese won the bids in the auction, while two winners were from the United Kingdom
and one from Switzerland. The ATP recorded a total of 499 bids on the eight different lockers of the players and the details of the winning bids are as follows:
Player Locker (Charity of Choice)
Origin of winning bid
Sold at
Berdych (Paraple Centrum)
Japan
$2,300
Djokovic (Novak Djokovic Foundation)
Switzerland
$6,900
Federer (Roger Federer Foundation)
Japan
$17,800
Ferrer (Save the Children)
Japan
$2,651
Fish (Mardy Fish Foundation)
Japan
$2,110
Murray (World Wildlife Fund)
U.K.
$7,200
Nadal (Rafa Nadal Foundation)
U.K.
$14,800
Tsonga (Attrap’ la Balle)
Japan
$3,500
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