Exhibition for Haiti plays to packed stadium
Roger Federer’s hastily-arranged tournament on Sunday in favour of the victims of the Haiti earthquake was sold out and raised around200,000 Australian dollars.
Federer, in Melbourne for the Australian Open which starts on Monday, proposed the idea to the organisers and fellow competitors on Saturday morning.
He brought together another seven players, including Rafael Nadal. Team Federer was made up of Serena Williams, Samantha Stosur and Lleyton Hewitt, while Team Nadal consisted of Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, and Kim Clijsters.
Despite the short notice, more than 20,000 spectators turned up at the stadium, which holds only 15,000.
Each was asked to make a donation of ten dollars (just over US$9).
The Haitian government currently puts the death toll from Tuesday’s devastating earthquake at 50,000. A further 250,000 are thought to be injured, and 1.5 million have been left homeless.
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