Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal to play charity match for flood victims

Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal to play charity match for flood victims

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal will lead other tennis players in an exhibition tennis contest today for the benefit of victims of the massive floods in Australia.

The "Rally for Relief" event was organized by Australian Open officials who are hoping to raise a minimum of $1 million Australian dollars or about $989,000 USD for devastated Queensland state.

A statement from officials of the Grand Slam tournament, which will begin tomorrow, said that Nadal and Federer will be joined by Lleyton Hewitt, Kim Clijsters and Novak Djokovic, and former pro player and native Queenslander Pat Rafter.

Queensland was hit hard by the floods which have killed 27 people and destroyed 28,000 properties worth billions according to State Premier Anna Bligh in an interview today with Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"This is a terrible tragedy, not only the loss of life but the destruction of people's homes," Nadal said in a statement. "I am pleased to be able to contribute in some way to help bring it to the attention of the world and raise some money for the victims in the process."

Other sports organizations are also organizing their own efforts to help Queensland. Organizers of the Cancer Council Classic race, which is to be held ahead of the Tour Down Under cycling event, said that 12,000 euros in prize money will be donated to charity. The Football Federation Australia meanwhile donated $100,000 Australian dollars for relief operations. The team physicians of the Queensland Reds rugby squad said that they are offering free medical assistance to victims of the disaster.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Sunday January 16 2011, 2:35 AM EDT. Ref: Bloomberg. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0