Serena Willaims, the women’s tennis icon that we all know, finally won a big championship game – the first in the past 3 years. She ended up paying it forward by donating the prize money.
Williams played in the ASB Classic Match against fellow American tennis player Jessica Pegula. The match was played in Auckland, New Zealand, and ended in a 6-3,6-4 match. Williams hadn’t won a match this big since the birth of her daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., in 2017.
The victory came with a cash prize of $43,000, which she announced she would donate to the organizations in Australia that are fighting the country’s domestic bushfires. She mentioned that she had been playing tennis in Australia for more than 20 years and that it was tough for her to watch the news and see all the tragic things happening with the fires. Williams said that this was the reason she decided to donate all the prize money for a good cause.
The bushfires in Australia have either damaged or completely destroyed approximately 3,000 residential properties since September. At least 28 people have been killed as a result. Along with the human lives that have been taken, an estimated 1 billion animals have been killed. Experts are warning that some of the animal species are likely to have already become extinct.
Williams is not the only celebrity to donate to Australian Relief Efforts to help fight the fire that is spreading. She joins Celeste Barber, an Australian comedian, who raised $35 million only two weeks after starting an online fundraiser.
There have also been donations pouring in from celebrities like Chris Hemsworth, Pink, Lizzo, Elton John, Nicole Kidman, and Kylie Jenner.