Tennis tournament will match Andy Murray’s prize donation to Ukraine

Professional British tennis player Andy Murray is receiving some help with his donations to Ukraine as the nation battles an ongoing invasion. 

The Citi Open tournament director Mark Ein pledged on Monday to match Murray’s contributions toward Ukrainian children for their upcoming ATP 250 event in Washington D.C. Murray first competed at the event in 2006 and is a three-time Grand Slam champion. 

In March 2022, Murray said he would give away 100 percent of his prize money to aid Ukrainian children affected by the Russian invasion via the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The tournament’s director said the 35-year-old player’s efforts were inspiring to everyone in the sports world. 

“I think all of us involved in the sport and sports more broadly were really inspired when Andy Murray at the beginning of the year said he would donate all of his prize money to UNICEF for the benefit of Ukrainian children,” Ein said, according to Tennis World. 

“It really inspired me and got me thinking – I think it was Miami where I saw you originally – that if Andy would come here, I felt that we would want to match his donation and whatever he makes here. So we’re doing that,” he added. “”We’re just announcing that whatever Andy makes here and donates to UNICEF, we’re going to match it”.

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Murray is competing at the tournament for the fourth time since his 2018 defeat to Alex de Minaur. In 2015, he lost to Teymuraz Gabshvili in the first round after not playing at Citi Open for nearly a decade. 

So far, Murray has donated more than $300,000 to the effort since competing in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. The tennis star could win up to $342,000 if he wins the tournament in the coming days. 

At his upcoming match, Murray will be playing against Makeal Ymer in the first round.