Tennis stars pledge donations for flood victims
In the world of today, where almost every day you hear of people being victimized by natural disasters, one’s heart rends out to these people. It’s no news to anyone how
much damage the recent floods in Australia have caused. One hopes to do all that is in their power to help these fellow beings. With the tennis stars currently in Australia for their yearly pilgrimage, they are first hand witnesses to the damage caused by
this natural calamity; a calamity that has been termed by the newspapers as “a flood of biblical proportions.”
The floods now cover the centre court of the Pat Rafter Arena where the Brisbane event was held last week. The governing bodies of ATP and WTA have pledged ten dollars each
for every ace served by their participants in the Brisbane and Sydney event. They have also pledged the same for the prestigious Australian Open, which is just around the corner. The act of charity is expected to raise more than forty one thousand dollars
($ 41, 000) during the Australian Open series. With powerful servers like Robin Soderling, Andy Roddick, Samantha Stosur and Kim Clijsters, the promise of serving aces for charity will definitely help generate a lot of funds for the victims.
Previously top seeds at the Brisbane event, Samantha Stosur and Andy Roddick had pledged hundred dollars each for each ace that they served. Since Stosur failed to generate
much charity given her second round exit against compatriot Jarmila Groth, Roddick doubled his bid to two hundred dollars per ace. Given his final run at the event, Roddick served a total of fifty four aces in the event generating over ten thousand eight hundred
dollars ($ 10, 800). The Brisbane International also pledged to donate five thousand dollars ($ 5000) for the cause.
Tournament director, Steve Ayles said, “From the coverage I have seen these floods have caused so much heartache for many Queenslanders and we want to make some sort of
contribution to helping ease the pain. “
Playing at the Sydney event this week, 2011 Brisbane quarterfinalist local Matthew Ebden also promised to donate hundred dollars ($ 100) for every ace he serves at the Medibank
International this week as well as the Australian Open next week.
2011 Hopman Cup mix-doubles winner, Bethanie Mattek-Sands has also pledged a percentage of her winnings at the Hobart event to help the flood victims. Mattek-Sands said, "Australia
has always been one of my favourite places to visit. I have always been received very kindly. Just like the flood disaster in America there are a lot of people who have lost everything they owned, and it is going to be a long road to some sense of normality.
I want to continue, by way of an international platform as a WTA player, to help those who are in need, no matter if they are right next door or across the ocean."
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