Taylor Fritz will donate all of his Australian Open first round prize money to a relief fund set up to support those affected by devastating wildfires in Los Angeles.
The world No.4 has previously lived in the region and some of his friends have been impacted by the current situation. Furthermore, a house his brothers grew up in has burnt down. At least 25 people have been killed by the wildfires which have burnt through almost 40,000 acres, according to figures published by Sky News on January 15th.
Frtiz’s donation will be Aus$132,000, which is $82,000 in American currency. He is not the first player to make such a gesture with Madison Keys also giving $20,000 to a local fire department in the region.
“I just want everyone to obviously stay safe, it’s just insane what has happened,” Frtiz said after beating Cristian Garin 6-2, 6-1, 6,-0, in the second round on Thursday.
“I’m going to be donating my first-round prize money to LA wildfire relief funds.
“It’s really the least I can do. Southern California is my home and LA was my home for a long time.
“I’m just doing what I can possibly do to help and I would encourage anyone else who can donate to help because a lot of people really need it.”
After his win over Garin in Melbourne, Fritz wrote LA on the camera lens with a love heart.
The American has only dropped eight games in two matches played so far at the Australian Open, where he is seeking to win his maiden Grand Slam title. He is making his ninth main draw appearance in Melbourne with his best result occurring last year when he reached the quarter-finals.
Frtiz’s next opponent will be France’s Gael Monfils who is currently on a seven-match winning streak. Monfils, who is the oldest player in the ATP top 100, defeated Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-3, 7-6, to move into the third round for the 12th time in his career.
“It’s going to be a fun match,” said Fritz.
“I’m super happy with how I played through my first two rounds. I thought today I played really well. Hopefully, I can play like that again in the third round.”
As for Monfils, the Tour veteran is relishing the opportunity to have a chance of causing an upset in the tournament. However, he admits he now has no specific goals he wants to achieve before retiring from the sport.
“I can finish now. I think I have done what I want in a way. If I do more, it’s bonus. I’m happy,” Monfils explained.
“As I always say from day one, for me the most important is the health. It’s just a part of my life. It’s very nice, beautiful. Tennis give me everything, you know, I can even imagine, so I am already blessed. The rest is bonus.”
Fritz leads Monfils 1-0 in their head-to-head. Their only previous meeting also took place at the Australian Open in 2019.
