Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray has said that the public should not forget what is happening in Ukraine after organizers at the Citi Open said they would donate funds to those in need.
The ATP 500 event gets underway next week in Washington and will feature five of the world’s top 20 players with Russia’s Andrey Rublev being the highest ranked. Ahead of the main draw starting, Murray took part in a press conference where it was confirmed that whatever amount of prize money he earns playing, organizers will match that and donate it to UNICEF.
Tournament director Mark Ein said he was inspired to make such a gesture after Murray donated all of his prize money from the BNP Paribas Open back in March to UNICEF which supports children affected by the Ukraine war. On February 24th Russia launched what they called a ‘special operation’ that has devastated the country. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 5000 civilians have been killed.
“I think all of us involved in the sport and sports more broadly were really inspired when Andy Murray at the beginning of the year said he would donate all of his prize money to UNICEF for the benefit of Ukrainian children,” Ein said during the press conference.
“It really inspired me and got me thinking – I think it was Miami where I saw you originally – that if Andy would come here, I felt that we would want to match his donation and whatever he makes here. So we’re doing that. We’re just announcing that whatever Andy makes here and donates to UNICEF, we’re going to match it.”
Murray is not the only player to have raised funds for those affected by the conflict. A week ago women’s world No.1 Iga Swiatek held an exhibition event in Poland where she played Agnieszka Radwanska with Elina Svitolina being the chair. That event raised 420,000 euros.
“You can’t just forget about this,” Murray said about the war. “It’s still going on. People are still getting killed, children are still having to flee their homes, and are in really, really tragic situations.
“I think it’s important that the media continues to shine a light on it, keep talking about it. Yeah, hopefully like what the tournament is doing here can help a little bit with that.”
Murray will play Sweden’s Elias Ymer in the first round of the Citi Open. His best-ever result at the tournament was back in 2006 when he finished runner-up to Arnaud Clément. At the time that was only the third Tour final of his career.
What is the prize money on offer at the Citi Open?
- WINNER – $342,800
- RUNNER-UP – $182,825
- SEMI-FINALS – $94,840
- QUARTER-FINALS – $49,515
- ROUND 3 – $26,095
- ROUND 2 – $14,280
- ROUND 1 – $7,620
Source – atptour.com
