Australian Open: Nadal, Federer pledge A$250,000 towards bushfire relief

Ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne, world no-1 Rafael Nadal and world no-3 Roger Federer pledged A$250,000 towards the Australian bushfire relief efforts.  

Also see- Tennis: Federer, Williams lead way to raise funds for workers in Australia bushfires

Nadal announced about the donations in the "Rally for Relief" event in Melbourne Park's Rod Laver Arena. 

Also see- Australian Open: Hazardous air condition delays matches, restarts amid haze

Twenty-three times Serena Williams and Australian Open defending champion Novak Djokovic also took part in the event.

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Rafa Nadal, after the exhibition match, said: "Hopefully that will keep inspiring the people to support this terrible disaster that we’re going through and helps to recover all the things that we need,”.

Australia is experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons in decades, with fires killing more than 28 people and destroying at least 2000 homes. Wildlife in Australia in the worst hit, nearly half a billion animals have perished in the bushfires.

Australian Open's qualifiers were disrupted for the second successive day because of the thick grey hazy in the morning due to the smoke of the bushfire. This was followed by smog-clearing rain.

The ATP  pledged A$750,000 to the WWF Australian Wildlife and Nature Recovery Fund as part of the bushfire relief efforts the as announced by Novak Djokovic and Nadal.

Serena Williams had pledged to donate all of her winning amounts after she won the Auckland Open. She won $43,000

The 24-year-old Australian Nick Kyrgios has pledged A$200 for every ace he hits this month. Nick Kyrgios hit the most aces (69) in the ATP cup. 

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam of the year. The tournament will be played between January 20 to February 2.