The world's number one tennis player Roger Federer has organized an exhibition event on Sunday involving himself and a number of his fellow professionals gathered in Melbourne for the Australian Open, with the aim of raising money for the people of Haiti.
Switzerland's Roger Federer and other stars of the tennis world such as Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur will take part in the event at Melbourne Park, where one of the world's premier tennis tournaments is due to begin on Monday, at which it is hoped a full stadium will bring in much needed funds to help the survivors of Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti.
Spectators will pay A$10, children under 12 being free, to watch a special mixed-doubles event that commences at 2:00 pm local time.
According to the
London Times the man with whom Roger Federer has had so many epic on-court battles in recent years, current world number two Rafael Nadal, has been drumming up support for the event on his Facebook page, posting a message which says:
We hope that you can come so that we raise money also with your help!
Meanwhile the 28-year-old Swiss star has told the official website for the
Australian Open of his reasons for organizing Sunday's event. He said:
I had the idea we could do something to help Haiti after the tragic earthquake. So, I spoke to some other top players ... they said ‘yes, we should do something’.
I think it’s something as a tennis family we’re very happy to do. I know it’s on the eve of the first Grand Slam of the season, so it’s for some not so easy maybe mentally to separate, you know, a few things – but I think it’s a great initiative. I’m happy we can go through with it and have some fun tomorrow. It may be a nice day also for families to come and see some top players play
According to the
Telegraph the event is being called "Hit for Haiti".
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