Rafael Nadal thanked the fans for their support to fight the Australia bushfires

World No.1 Rafael Nadal made a great start to the Australian Open but took time to thank the fans for their help in fighting the Australia bushfires.

The country has been ravaged by several fires for months with help coming from all corners.

The Tennis community did their bit with a huge charity game called “Rally for Relief” and Nadal was part of that.

Nadal was speaking after his win in the first round and was told that the Rally for Relief had raised close to AUD $5million.

The former Australian Open Champion highlighted that the Tennis community was doing what it could, and thanked the crowd for raising the amount:

“The only matters is just help and that Tennis is together and all the world of Tennis is together to try to help the disaster we are going through here in Australia over the last couple of months.

“Happy to raise so much money, I know money is not everything but in some way that can help to recover the disaster.

“Thank you to all the crowd because we raised a lot of money.”

Many other sportspeople from around the world have also pledged to help out.

Cricketers from the Big Bash League were donating money for every six they hit. Premier League goalkeeper Matt Ryan also donated money for every save made during a particular weekend.

Nadal’s best moment of 2019

The Spaniard was asked about his best moment from 2019, given that he reached the final of the Australian Open and also won two Grand Slams.

However, Nadal gave a great answer by suggesting that getting married was the one moment he cherishes the most from the previous year.

More Tennis news

• “It’s not forever” – Rafael Nadal knows Tennis career isn’t forever and is planning for future

• Australian Open Champion Naomi Osaka says she was more “fearless” last year ahead of title defence

• “It’s been on my mind a lot” – Naomi Osaka contemplating on how to help Australian bushfire victims

The Spaniard is one of the favourites for the title this year, and it will be interesting to see how things go in the coming months.

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