Tennis Continues to Support Japan’s Relief Efforts

On the Baseline Tennis News
March 26, 2011

On Friday evening, the appropriately dubbed “Tennis for Japan” fundraising event on Stadium court brought together many of the top tennis players competing at the Sony Ericsson Open, including Kim Clijsters, Vera Zvonareva, and Japan’s own Kimiko Date-Krumm and Ayumi Morita, to support relief efforts in Japan. Players involved in the event wore brightly colored t-shirts displaying Japan’s flag on the front. They established a unique way to raise money for the victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami by walking through the crowd to collect donations from fans. In total, the event raised over $10,000. The money raised will be combined with donations from the WTA, ATP, Grand Slams, Sony Ericsson, ITF, IMG, SAP, Itaú, FILA, Adidas, and Lagardère (totaling $300,000) and will be given to the Red Cross and other organizations to support Japan’s disaster relief efforts.

During the event, World No. 2 and Sony Ericsson Open defending champ, Kim Clijsters wore a custom-designed, black FILA shirt with “Japan” on the front, in support of Japan’s relief efforts.  Proceeds from the sales of the shirt will be donated to Japan’s earthquake relief funds, and is available for purchase at the tournament.



















WTA players, including Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova, and Ana Ivanovic have also put together video messages to show their ongoing support for Japan, which will be shown during the Sony Ericsson Open.

In addition, an online auction has been established to raise funds for Japan’s relief efforts. Many of the top tennis stars (both past and present), have already made donations of signed memorabilia to be auctioned, including Maria Sharapova’s match-used, signed right-shoe from the 2007 Australian Open, Jennifer Capriati’s match-used, signed racquet from 2002, Vera Zvonareva’s signed K-Swiss top, and many more.

For more information or to participate in the auction:

http://www.aceauthentic.com/keinishikori/main/index.php

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