Alexander Zverev is standing by his promise to donate the entire $4 million in prize money if he wins the Australian Open.
Zverev, who is seeded seventh, beat Stan Wawrinka 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the major on Wednesday in Australia to advance to the semifinals. That means the 22-year-old German is two wins away from his first career grand slam title. That also means Zverev is two wins away from making a huge donation.
After his first-round win over Marco Cecchinato, Zverev said in his post-match interview that he would donate $10,000 per win to Australian bushfire relief. Zverev added that if he won the entire tournament, he would donate all the prize money.
“One more thing. Obviously Australia is a country that is home for us for over a month time for every single year, and we heard what is going on with the bushfires, we heard what is going on with the animals, with the people that are losing their homes. I will donate $10,000 for every match that I win here,” Zverev said after his first win.
“I know I’m not the favorite to win this event, but if I win this event, I’m going to donate every single cent to the bush fires.”
Fast forward to Wednesday in Australia, and Zverev beat Wawrinka. The youngster was asked by John McEnroe whether he would stick by his promise to donate the full $4.12 million purse, and Zverev said yes.
“Easy to say in the first round, right? Yes, it is still true. I hope I can make it happen. I made the people of Australia a promise, I will keep that promise, if it happens,” said Zverev. “I’m not a money-driven person. My parents always told me you should achieve things with money that help others. 4 million Australian dollars would be nice, it would be very, very nice — I could maybe buy myself a few cars or something — but there’s people that actually need it for their homes, for rebuilding houses, wildlife, for rebuilding the life that they once knew, so it’s much more important that they get that money.”
Here was Zverev’s original promise after his win in the first round:
And here are more extensive comments from Zverev regarding his promise:
Alexander Zverev probably isn't winning the Australian Open, but you have to like his perspective on privilege as he promises to donate the check if he does win. Printing in full here pic.twitter.com/CMxQ3A0JyP
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) January 21, 2020
