ATP Cup stars and Tennis Australia rally behind bushfire effort

The smoke-filled air that has engulfed his hometown of Canberra prompted a plea from Nick Kyrgios to Tennis Australia.

Nick Kyrgios said the smoke that shrouded his home city of Canberra on New Year’s Day motivated him to ask the tennis community for a bushfire fundraising effort. Picture: AP

The smoke-filled air that has engulfed his hometown of Canberra prompted a plea from Nick Kyrgios to Tennis Australia to arrange a ­series of fundraising activities for those affected by the bushfire ­crisis.

Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley confirmed on Thursday that the organisation, which has a history of raising funds for disaster-hit areas, is finalising arrangements for activities to run during the ATP Cup, Adelaide International and Australian Open.

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Kyrgios, who will begin his season in the ATP Cup against German Jan-Lennard Struff in Brisbane on Friday night, said the crisis had struck a nerve.

“I just think that … all the heartbreak this summer, it’s pretty tragic what’s going on, especially with my hometown, Canberra, being under a bit of smoke, the most hazardous smoke in the world at the moment,” he said.

“It’s obviously sad for everything that’s going on. But I am sure all these guys will be happy to help. I saw John (Millman) and (John Peers) retweeted, so the more exposure it gets, I think we have the potential to do something pretty special there.”

Kyrgios later tweeted that he would donate $200 for every ace he hit this summer while Australian teammate Alex de Minaur responded saying he’d go to $250 per ace because “I don’t think I’ll be hitting as many aces as you mate”.

Australian captain Lleyton ­Hewitt, who helped arrange the Rally for Relief with Roger Federer following the Queensland floods disaster in 2011, also signalled his intention to assist.

“It’s been a pretty tough time for a lot of the major states of our country … and a lot of these people are doing it pretty tough out there,” Hewitt said.

“So I think all of us feel like we would like to help in some way.”

Tiley, who doubles as the Australian Open tournament director, said the organisation was finalising arrangements for the fundraising activities.

Aside from the Rally for Relief, TA has been involved in fundraising efforts for Haiti after it was devastated by hurricanes and arranged events for foundations run by Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Djokovic, a seven-time Australian Open champion, has already pledged to donate to a fund to help rescue efforts for wildlife affected by the fires.

Tiley said: “For weeks we’ve been watching the devastation caused by bushfires across Australia and the people affected are constantly in our thoughts.

“We want to help these communities in a meaningful way and will announce a number of fundraising and support initiatives that will be rolled out across the ATP Cup, Australian Open and our other events over the coming weeks.”