"Agassi is someone who I looked up to a lot growing up" - Andy Murray after winning 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award

After winning the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his contributions to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, Andy Murray credited the influence of Andre Agassi on him.

In March, the Scot pledged his season's earnings to UNICEF's humanitarian work in Ukraine. Russia invaded Ukraine in February this year, leading to many casualties and injuries, causing widespread damage to properties and infrastructure, and forcing many to flee the country.

Murray joined the recently retired Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi as the only players to win the Arthur Ashe award on multiple occasions. The Scot also won the award in 2014.

In a first-person essay written for ATP, Murray expressed his pride at joining the aforementioned trio, who are renowned for their humanitarian work worldwide. He wrote:

"I join Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi as two-time winners of this award. Agassi is someone who I looked up to a lot growing up. I know he has done a lot of great things away from the court with his school. Roger’s foundation has also staged fundraising matches for parts of Africa and I know Aisam has been involved in peace talks in his part of the world."

Explaining his decision to donate his prize money to war relief efforts, Murray wrote:

"Shortly after I decided that from Indian Wells onwards, I would donate my prize money for the rest of the season to UNICEF’s humanitarian response – the final total was just over $630,000. It seemed like something that would give me some extra motivation this year. I thought I could also raise some awareness and hopefully get others involved in helping, too."

The Scot considers himself fortunate to be in a position to make a difference. He said:

"I’m in the fortunate position to try to make some sort of difference, so hopefully the money that’s been raised through UNICEF can help some of the children who have been affected."

Apart from Murray, the ATP, WTA, ITF, and the four Grand Slam tournaments jointly donated $700,000, while Federer contributed $500,000.

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Eminent journalist commends Andy Murray for donating 2022 prize money to UNICEF for Ukraine war relief

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Commending the Scot's actions, eminent journalist Ben Rothenberg said that Andy Murray's gesture didn't grab as many headlines as it should have. Admitting that he's also guilty of not talking "nearly enough" about Murray, he tweeted:

"I feel like we (myself very much included) didn't talk nearly enough this year about Andy Murray donating *all* of his 2022 prize money to UNICEF efforts in Ukraine."

On the court, Andy Murray had a 26-19 season, reaching two finals and ending the year in the top 50.