
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal jointly donated 250,000 Australian dollars and were joined by Serena Williams, Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka and more in a charity exhibition match to raise funds for bushfire relief.
Although qualifying at the Australian Open was rained out on Wednesday, the Rally for Relief took place as planned under the closed roof of Rod Laver Arena.
The idea for an exhibition match to raise money to help communities and wildlife in the wake of ongoing fires in Australia, which have so far killed 28 people and destroyed an estimated 100,000 square kilometres of land, originated with Nick Kyrgios, who tweeted encouraging Tennis Australia to act at the beginning of the month.
C’mon @TennisAustralia surely we can do a pre @AustralianOpen exho to raise funds for those affected by the fires? ??♂️??♂️
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 1, 2020
The Australian Open has hosted exhibition matches before, most notably the Hit for Haiti in 2010, which was organised at Federer’s urging.
Twelve of the world’s top players ultimately took part in the Rally for Relief. Kyrgios and Federer played a one-set singles match with Federer won 7-6(4), while the remaining ten divided into teams headed by 23-time major champion Serena Williams and 2018 Australian Open winner Caroline Wozniacki, who will shortly retire.
‘Team Williams’ comprised the American, supported by Nadal, French Open finalist Dominic Thiem, 2019 Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova and seven-time champion Djokovic.
On ‘Team Wozniacki’, the Dane was joined by Alexander Zverev, ATP Finals champion Stefanos Tsitsipas, reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka and teenage phenomenon Coco Gauff.
World no. 1 Nadal announced that he and Federer had agreed to donate 250,000 Australian dollars to bushfire relief.
‘Hopefully that keeps inspiring the people to support this terrible disaster that we are going through,’ Nadal said.
Federer said:
‘It’s been difficult [to watch]. You wish that this doesn’t happen in your country. In Switzerland we don’t have these kind of extreme situations. I’m always happy to help. I wanted to raise awareness and raise money. And tell the people to still travel to Australia.’
The match ultimately raised over $4 million for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
Firefighters were courtside for the match, with one – Deb Borg – even joining her favourite player, Nadal, to play a couple of points.
Kyrgios was one of the first to pledge $200 for every ace hit during January’s Australian tennis tournaments, with many other players joining in. Donations have been matched by tournaments including the ATP Cup, Brisbane International, Hobart International and Adelaide International.
World no. 1 Ashleigh Barty donated all her prize money from the Brisbane International to bushfire relief.
Kyrgios said:
‘It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. It’s so hard, I just wanted to send a message. That was an opportunity for me to use my platform.
‘I woke up the next day and it kind of exploded. It was so emotional.’
Here are some of the best photos, player reactions and videos from the Rally for Relief.
Nadal and Djokovic played doubles together for Team Williams, and Nadal could not resist the opportunity to turn the traditional behind-the-back finger signals for doubles into a rude gesture aimed at Djokovic:
Novak: where do i go?
Rafa: pic.twitter.com/FnZqN3dLI5— isadore (@inspiredbyrafa) January 15, 2020
Nadal and Djokovic teamed up to tease ‘Next Gen’ opponents Tsitsipas and Zverev, first by making fun of how slowly the younger players moved at the change of ends:
“See? Next Gen, how slow they are? Unbelievable.” @DjokerNole throwing a little shade towards @AlexZverev and @StefTsitsipas ? pic.twitter.com/KlESV6hOQo
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 15, 2020
Djokovic continued to play up the age angle, telling Tsitsipas and Zverev that the combined age of himself and Nadal was over 60, to which Zverev riposted: ‘We’ve got a combined age of 12 over here.’
Novak: 60 plus years here (between Rafa and him).
Sascha: We’ve got combined age of 12.
Novak: Yeah, you’ve got time. pic.twitter.com/SbuYUQRXa4
— Jess ? (@jessica4stein) January 15, 2020
Djokovic also told Tsitsipas he was ‘still in [his] nappies’ when Djokovic first played an underarm serve:
“You were still in your nappies” ???#tsitsismile ?? #Rally4Relief pic.twitter.com/831gcjlbRR
— tsitsi_smile ? (@Tsitsi_smile) January 15, 2020
Petra Kvitova showed just how good she is at following instructions as she played alongside Nadal:
… whatever you say @RafaelNadal ?#RallyForRelief pic.twitter.com/JeBt4i1SkU
— Petra Kvitova (@Petra_Kvitova) January 15, 2020
Reigning Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka couldn’t resist getting a video of herself with the other members of Team Wozniacki:
yes I was that person. pic.twitter.com/dISOBOtt2g
— NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ (@naomiosaka) January 15, 2020
Osaka also shared an extremely awkward hug with Tsitsipas, confirming her ‘adorkable’ persona (Zverev’s teasing did not help):
“You guys are so cute.”@naomiosaka + @StefTsitsipas#Rally4Relief
To contribute: https://t.co/9RPgZ7cBoB pic.twitter.com/TvvWH6uP7Z
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2020
Djokovic served drinks to the other members of Team Williams:
.@CocoGauff is now carrying Team Wozniacki on her back, and @DjokerNole has got the drink orders covered. Not to worry. ?#Rally4Relief #Aces4BushfireRelief pic.twitter.com/K8Pf7wyOq7
— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) January 15, 2020
Nadal announces a $250,000 donation from himself and Federer:
“Talking with Roger, we decided to give $250,000 together.” ? ? ? ?#Rally4Relief
To contribute: https://t.co/9RPgZ7cBoB pic.twitter.com/ocdiw8D0if
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2020
Coco Gauff, the youngest participant, tweeted a photo of all 12 player participants:
Together?? ?? #aces4bushfirerelief pic.twitter.com/4Em8RP1uWv
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) January 15, 2020
Nadal was extremely puzzled when asked to ‘throw back’ to presenters in the studio, much to the amusement of the other players:
okay but this was hilarious pic.twitter.com/ziMKh0xhOb
— isadore (@inspiredbyrafa) January 15, 2020
Djokovic said it was the ‘greatest feeling’ to be involved:
The greatest feeling to come together and raise 4.8M for Australia #Rally4Relief ???? pic.twitter.com/Wva0ScfBpk
— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 15, 2020