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A magical night unfolded in Melbourne as the biggest names of the tennis world gathered to take part in the 'Rally for Relief' charity event, which is the brainchild of Nick Kyrgios.
Stars like Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Caroline Wozniacki, Rafael Nadal, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Coco Gauff, Dominic Thiem, Petra Kvitova and Naomi Osaka made their presence felt at the Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, the 15th of January.
The competition followed the Fast4 format, with Wozniacki and Williams being the captains of the two teams. Gauff, Osaka, Tsitsipas and Zverev joined Wozniacki's clan while Williams picked Nadal, Djokovic, Thiem and Kvitova in her team.
Spanish star Nadal won the hearts of the fans by selecting CFA volunteer Deb Borg as his doubles partner. Deb and Nadal surprisingly won the game for their team.
There was a moment in the event where all the eight players of both the teams were out in the middle. Djokovic pulled Tsitsipas' leg while on the microphone to entertain the fans in attendance, while Federer and Nadal made a special announcement, much to the joy of the Australian fans.
“Talking with Roger (Federer) a couple of hours ago we decided to give $250,000 to the bushfire relief,” Nadal said. Besides, even Williams announced that she would donate her Auckland Open winnings to the cause.
Since Team Wozniacki lost the match to Team Williams, captain Wozniacki brought out her 'ace' player who she described as young, tall and sometimes found himself in a little bit of trouble - local boy Nick Kyrgios. On the other side, Williams invited her own 'ace', labeling him the GOAT - Roger Federer.
The Swiss legend then reignited his rivalry with his Aussie counterpart as the two locked horns in a one-set match. The game went down to the wire where Federer prevailed in the tiebreaker.
After the encounter, both Federer and Kyrgios sat down for an interview with the broadcasters. The mastermind of this event, Kyrgios spoke his heart out on its successful completion. He said:
“It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. Through ATP Cup it was practically why I was playing so hard you know I just wanted to send a message. I just had dinner when I wrote the tweet, that was the opportunity for me to use my platform and the whole Aussie team got behind it. I woke up the next day and it had kind of exploded and it was so emotional. Back home when I was in Canberra I couldn’t even go outside it was emotional and I’m just so happy that we had Roger, Novak, Rafa, some of the greats to get behind it and everyone around the world at the moment the awareness has grown and I think we’re doing everything we possibly can to overcome this together.”
All in all, the event was a huge success; by the end, Rally for Relief raised $4,826,014 for the noble cause. The event also helped the star players in getting acclimatized to the court and the fan reception ahead of the upcoming Australian Open 2020 tournament.
Which players do you think will win the men's and women's Australian Open titles in 2020? Share your views in the comments box below.
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