MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — American tennis player Taylor Fritz said Thursday he is donating the prize money he earned for his first-round victory at the Australian Open — about $82,000 — to relief funds to help people affected by the wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area.
“I mean, I feel like it’s really the least I can do,” said U.S. Open finalist Fritz, who was born in Rancho Santa Fe, California, and still is based in the state.
“Obviously ‘SoCal’ has been my home forever. I still spend a lot of time in LA, but I lived in LA for quite a while. I have friends impacted; family not so much. I had some family have to evacuate. The house that my brothers grew up in burnt down. Obviously, they’re not living there anymore,” Fritz said after reaching the third round at Melbourne Park with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 victory over qualifier Cristian Garín of Chile.
“A lot of people are affected by it,” added Fritz, the runner-up to Jannik Sinner at the U.S. Open in September and seeded No. 4 in Australia. “I feel like if you’re in a place to help, then you should.”
Authorities have not determined a cause for the major blazes in what is on track to become the nation’s costliest fire disaster, with at least 25 people dead and thousands of homes destroyed.
