Top 30 star Wang Qiang has vowed to donate a set amount of money for every game she wins in her next six tournaments to a fundraiser set up to fight the coronavirus outbreak in her home country.
Wang, who knocked Serena Williams out of the Australian Open last month, has pledged to donate ¥1000RMB (roughly £110) for every game won over the coming weeks on the WTA Tour. The initiative began this week at the Hua Hin Championships in Thailand, where she is the third seed. Wang won her first round match 6-1, 6-1 against Han Xinyun and will therefore donate ¥12000RMB from that match alone.
“Starting from the Thai Open on February 10th and ending on April 6th at the Miami Open, Wang Qiang will donate a total of 1000 Yuan for every game won during six tournaments (Hua Hin, Dubai, Doha, Fed Cup, Indian Wells and Miami) to support the Beijing Leyi Public Welfare foundation.” A statement published on Sina Sports reads.
The Coronavirus has been declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation. According to figures obtained by CNN, more than 45,000 people have been infected with the illness around the world and there have been over 1100 deaths related to it. Most of which have been in China, where the outbreak originated from. It is believed that the virus originated from a Wuhan seafood market where various wild animals are traded illegally.
Wang’s donation follows that of former grand slam champion Li Na, who is the only Chinese player in history to have won a grand slam champion and was born in Wuhan. Last week Li donated 3 million yuan in the fight against the virus. The donation has been made through a charitable foundation in Beijing.
The ongoing epidemic has already had an impact on the tennis tour with a series of events cancelled. Four Chinese Challenger events set to take place next month have been axed. Meanwhile an Asia/Oceania Group I Fed Cup tournament that had originally been scheduled to take place in Dongguan has been relocated to Dubai next month. Many other sporting events have also been affected.
Officials in the world of tennis are closely monitoring events over the coming months concerning Coronavirus. During the final quarter of the tennis season, China is a premier location for many tournaments. On the WTA Tour, the country will host eight events between September and November, including the prestigious WTA Finals. On the ATP Tour four events are scheduled to take place during that period with the most high-profile being the Shanghai Masters. On top of that, this summer’s Olympic tennis tournament will be held nearby in the Japanese capital of Tokyo.
