Australian Nick Kyrgios has said he will help the victims of the bushfires raging in his country by donating $200 each time he serves an ace during the home summer season.
More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed by the fires, which have been fuelled by searing temperatures and high winds.
"I'm kicking off the support for those affected by the fires. I'll be donating $200 per ace that I hit across all the events I play this summer." world No. 30 Kyrgios wrote on Twitter.
I'm kicking off the support for those affected by the fires. I'll be donating $200 per ace that I hit across all the events I play this summer. #MoreToCome #StayTuned
— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) January 2, 2020
"It's pretty tragic what's going on, especially with my hometown Canberra being under a bit of smoke -- the most hazardous smoke in the world at the moment," Kyrgios said on Thursday at an ATP Cup news conference in Brisbane.
Canberra has been experiencing its worst air quality on record, and as a result, residents have been warned to stay indoors.
"It's obviously sad for everything that's going on," Kyrgios said. "There's no rain predicted there for the next four months, so it doesn't look like the fires are going to slow down any time soon, which is pretty sad."
Kyrgios' ATP Cup teammate Alex de Minaur followed his compatriot's lead, tweeting that he would donate $250 for every ace he serves during the Australian swing of the ATP season.
"I like this, I will go $250 per ace, just because I don't think I'll be hitting as many aces as you mate," the 20-year-old wrote.
Fellow Australians John Millman, John Peers, Sam Stosur and Ellen Perez also joined the cause, saying they would donate per ace served, and the ATP later pledged to donate $100 for each ace served across the 10-day ATP Cup.
"With more than 1,500 aces expected to be served by singles and doubles players across both the group rounds and the final eight in Sydney, the ATP Cup contribution is expected to exceed $150,000," the ATP said in a statement.
The campaign will be jointly funded by the ATP, Tennis New South Wales, Tennis Queensland, Tennis West and Tennis Australia, whose CEO Craig Tiley also confirmed that a multicity fundraiser campaign would be launched to support those impacted by the wildfires.
Kyrgios will begin his season when Australia take on Germany in Group F of the ATP Cup on Friday.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.