Tennis champion Naomi Osaka has vowed to donate her winnings from next weeks Western & Southern Open to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti.
Really hurts to see all the devastation thats going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really cant catch a break, the worlds number two-ranking tennis player tweeted Saturday.
Im about to play a tournament this week and Ill give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti. I know our ancestors blood is strong well keep rising.
The Caribbean nation was struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake Saturday that left at least 1,297 people dead and injured and displaced thousands more. The natural disaster hit as Haitians were already reeling from a pandemic and presidential assassination.
The tournament starts Monday in Cincinnati. The womens singles champion is expected to take home just over $255,000 in prize money, from a total prize money pool of $1.835 million, according to website Perfect Tennis . Osaka reached the finals of the comp last year but had to withdraw due to an injury.
Osaka, 23, was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father. She moved to the United States when she was 3 years old and grew up as a Japanese-American dual citizen.