Germany's Alexander Zverev signs autographs after defeating Italy's Marco Cecchinato in their first round singles match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne
Alexander Zverev will donate $10,000 for every match he wins at the Australian Open to go toward the bushfire recovery effort. If he wins the Australian Open title, the seventh-seeded Zverev is promising to donate all his prize money.
He is already committed to $10,000 after overcoming a frustrating buildup to the decade's first major to win his first-round match against Marco Cecchinato 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
After the match, he told the crowd at Margaret Court Arena about his pledge, starting with the promise per match and then adding: “I know I'm not the favorite to win this event, but if I win this event, I'll donate every single cent to the bushfires.”
The singles champions earn more than 4 million Australian dollars, and have to win seven consecutive matches to clinch the title.
Zverev hasn’t won a major title — his best run so far is to the quarterfinals at the French Open in the last two years. But he is considered one of the rising stars of men’s tennis, has a career-high ranking of No. 3 and won the season-ending ATP Finals in 2018.
“Thank you very much. I hope I'll get a lot of support,” he said.
The devastating wildfires in Australia have claimed at least 28 lives since September, destroyed more than 2,600 homes and razed more than 10.4 million hectares (25.7 million acres). The area burned is larger than the U.S. state of Indiana.
Zverev struggled with his serve at the ATP Cup earlier this month in losses to Alex de Minaur, Denis Shapovalov and Stefanos Tsitsipas. It worked better at Melbourne Park, where he served only four double-faults in his opening match.
John McEnroe told Nick Kyrgios he was proud of him and promised to donate $1,000 to the bush fire recovery effort for every set the Aussie player wins at the Australian Open.
Kyrgios beat Lorenzo Sonego 6-2, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (1) in his first-round match at Melbourne Arena, which was delayed for a couple of minutes in the second set when the lights went out.
Kyrgios kick-started the tennis fundraising campaign that has raised millions of dollars for victims of the devastating wildfires by promising at the ATP Cup to donate $200 for every ace he serves this month. He served 20 aces that night to get the fundraising going.
Against Sonego, he served 14.
McEnroe has been critical of the temperamental Kyrgios at times, but recognized the good deeds in an on-court TV interview.
“I'm proud of you,” McEnroe said near the end over the interview. Kyrgios, who reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in 2014 and at the Australian Open a year later, thanked the seven-time major winner for the praise.
“I appreciate that,” Kyrgios said. “I'm going to tear up again!”
