Ahead of the Australian Open, a whole slew of tennis greats will hit the court at Rod Laver Arena to raise money for the thousands affected by the devastating bushfires.
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Rally for Relief will takeover the arena this Wednesday, 15 January for a night of excellent tennis, and probably a coupla giggles. So far, we’ve got Swiss king Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniacki, our adopted thirsty son Stefanos Tsitsipas, Belinda Bencic, and Alexander Zverev on the lineup. All funds raised will be donated to the bushfire relief cause.
James Bracey, Rebecca Maddern, and Tony Jones will host the event, with Todd Woodbridge, Dylan Alcott, Sam Groth, and Casey Dellacqua in the commentary box.
Now unless my laptop’s glitching, it appears the event is already sold out – tickets went on sale last week so that makes sense. But no matter, because you can still catch the whole thing live on Nine from 7pm. The AO is also hosting Music for Relief on Sunday, 19 January from 3pm to 9pm. Jessica Mauboy, Montaigne, and Lily Papas are all locked in for a good time, with all proceeds headed to the Australian Red Cross. You can grab your tickets, via Ticketmaster, right here.
Rally for Relief is the latest show of support from the tennis community. Earlier this month, Kyrgios pledged $200 for every ace he hits during the summer. Young gun Alex de Minaur mirrored the pledge, adding in an extra pineapple per ace, because “I don’t think I’ll be hitting as many aces” as Kyrgios. Whatta legend. Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic donated $25,000 each to bushfire aid, and Williams donated all her prize winnings ($USD43,000) from her first singles title in three years to the bushfire appeal.
Meanwhile, Team Serbia – fronted by Novak Djokovic – are fresh off a win after defeating Spain, 2-1, in the inaugural ATP Cup final on Sunday night. Djokovic was on absolute fire last night, which already has people thinking he might win his eighth Australian Open this summer.
The Australian Open begins Monday, January 20. You can grab your passes here.
