Alex de Minaur to Participate in ‘Tennis Plays for Peace’ Charity Spectacular

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Alex de Minaur is playing for a special cause…

The 23-year-old Uruguayan & Spanish Australian professional tennis player will take part in the Tennis Plays for Peace charity spectacular at Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday, January 11.

de Minaur will be joined by Rafael Nadal, Coco Gauff, Maria Sakkari, Alex Zverev and Frances Tiafoe at the event.

All funds raised from the star-studded night of tennis and entertainment will support the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine by UNICEF Australia and Global Giving, which are providing help on the ground.

Tennis Plays for Peace will include a couple of fun exhibition matches with a star-studded line-up.

With events still taking place in Adelaide and Hobart, further player participation will be announced closer to the event.

“Tennis is a truly global sport with an international playing community that has a history of stepping up and helping out. Through Tennis Plays for Peace the tennis community can offer practical assistance through fundraising, as well as show our heartfelt support for the victims of the war,” Australian Open Tournament Director Craig Tiley explained. “We look forward to a spectacular night of tennis and entertainment and a wonderful opportunity to come together and raise much-needed funds.”

In addition, 98-year-old Leonid Stanislavskyi from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region will arrive in Australia early next week as an honored guest. He has laid down a challenge to fellow nonagenarian, 98-year-old Henry Young from Adelaide, and the two will take to Rod Laver Arena for the Battle of the Centurions.

Both men are life-long tennis players who take to the court every week and last year Stanislavskyi was officially recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s oldest tennis player.

Vika & Linda will get the crowd rocking with their distinctive vocal sound and the Melbourne-based Volya: Ukrainian Combined Choir (Volya means freedom in Ukrainian), will give a moving performance.

Tennis Plays for Peace is a global initiative to bring the tennis community and fans together to support the humanitarian relief efforts for the war in Ukraine. It is supported by all the Grand Slams, the ATP, WTA and ITF.

Tickets for the Tennis Plays for Peace charity event are on sale now.

Alex de Minaur Reaches Australian Open Fourth Round for the First Time

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a sweet 16 for Alex de Minaur…

The 22-year-old Uruguayan & Spanish Australian tennis player has reached the Australian Open‘s round of 16 for the first time, the local hope winning his ninth straight set at Melbourne Park as he defeated Pablo Andujar.

de Minaur, the 32nd seed, beat the Spanish veteran and regular hitting partner Andujar 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in another commanding display as Australian tennis great Rod Laver watched on in the stadium named in his honor on Saturday.

de Minaur will face Italian 20-year-old world No. 10 Jannik Sinner, who has beaten the Australian in both previous encounters, for a place in the quarterfinals.

de Minaur, ranked 42 in the world, lost the first set in his first round clash but has won his past nine to build his best home campaign.

Andujar, who will turn 36 on Sunday, joined the tour in 2003 and has returned from three separate surgeries on his right elbow to hit a ranking high of 32 in the world seven years ago.

He made the Australian earn it, but de Minaur obliged in trademark fashion to run down the Spaniard’s best and counter with some scintillating shot-making of his own.

de Minaur rifled a forehand down the line to secure the decisive break in the first set, while a pinpoint lob earned applause from his opponent in the second set after the Australian had somehow scrambled to stay in the point.

The cracks opened, a double fault handed de Minaur a break in the third set and he rammed home his advantage with another monster forehand in the next game.

“Pretty exciting to play here at Rod Laver Arena at 7pm in front of Rod Laver himself … it’s a pretty amazing feeling and I got the win so what more can I ask for,” de Minaur said on court.

“(I’m expecting) a lot of firepower from Jannik, he’s a hell of a player so I’m just looking forward to it.”

de Minaur is set to rise at least nine spots to No. 33 in the world thanks to his career-best performance at Melbourne Park.

Rafael Nadal Pledges AUD $250,000 for Australia Bushfire Relief Efforts During Rally for Relief

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadal is swinging for a cause…

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis star was among some of tennis’ biggest names gathered in Rod Laver Arena on Wednesday to raise funds for Australia’s ongoing bushfire crisis.

Raising nearly 5 million Australian dollars ($3.5 million), Nadal, Serena Williams, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Caroline Wozniacki and a number of up-and-coming stars at the Rally for Relief gave the capacity crowd of more than 15,000 fans the opportunity to see the lighter side of the competitive sport.

Nadal and the gang volunteered their time for the cause. On several occasions, volunteer fire personnel took to the court to play against the tennis stars.

Australian’s Nick Kyrgiosplayed a role in kick-starting the wave of relief. His Twitterpledge of $200 per ace throughout the Australian summer inspired colleagues into action, prompting Tennis Australiato announce the Rally for Relief evening.

During the event, Federerand Nadal announced they’d contribute 250,000 Australian dollars to the cause.

Kyrgios said he “got goose bumps” when the figure was announced after his one-set match with Federer on the night.

“It’s been an emotional couple of weeks. I just wanted to send a message. … I was eating dinner and wrote a tweet … and it kind of exploded,” he said on court after the event. “When I was back home in Canberra, I couldn’t even go outside [due to the smoke].”

Federer said he and other players were only too happy to help out a nation in which he spends nearly one month of the year.

“It’s been hard to watch,” Federer said. “As you get it through the news, you don’t know how bad it is, but then you get here and speak to the people affected, it’s difficult. I’m always happy to help and lend my money and do my fair share.”

Rafael Nadal to Take Part in ‘Rally for Relief’ Charity Event to Raise Funds for Australian Bushfire Relief

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Rafael Nadalis ready to swing his racquet for a good cause…

The 33-year-old Spanish professional tennis player, currently ranked No. 1 in the world, will take part in a charity event ahead of the Australian Open that will have a new air quality policy as organizers grapple with issues related to the bushfire crisis.

Tennis Australia chief Craig Tiley announced on Wednesday that the Rally for Relief will be held onRod Laver Arena on the evening of January 15 with proceeds going to the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

Nadal will take part alongside Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Nick Kyrgios, Naomi Osaka, Caroline Wozniaki and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

“For a period of about two-and-a-half hours we’re going to be showcasing the game, but also coming together as a community to play our part in the relief effort,” Tiley said

“I’m really proud of the playing group because the number of calls and emails I’ve got with everyone stepping forward and either giving money or making themselves available.

“The format is going to be pretty cool … it’s going to be a combination of fun and seriousness.

“We’ll see some doubles, we’ll see some singles, some target hitting and opportunities to raise more money on the night.

“We’ll see the players having a lot of fun.”

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster with all proceeds going to bushfire disaster relief charities.

Tiley also confirmed the Open will go ahead as scheduled with an air quality policy in place after concerns had been raised about the potential for smoke from bushfires burning in Victoria’s east to affect the health of players and fans.

“This is a new experience for not only us but across the world in this sport,” Tiley said.

“But we lead the world with the extreme heat policy and we expect to do the same around air quality.

“We do have three stadiums with roofs so play will always continue.

“But what will be new is that we will have some real-time (air quality) monitoring on-site … and we’ll use that analysis to make some decisions around the safety and well-being of players and fans.

“… I think the players understand that this is not something that we can do anything about and they’ve been gracious and very cooperative.

“They want to play.”

Soares Makes History After Winning Two Australian Open Doubles Titles

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Bruno Soares is seeing double…

The 33-year-old Brazilian tennis player made history at this year’s Australian Open by winning two doubles championship matches.

On Sunday afternoon, Soares added the mixed doubles title with Elena Vesnina to the men’s doubles championship he won with Jamie Murray.

Vesnina and Soares won the final four points of the match tiebreaker to take the mixed doubles title with a 6-4, 4-6, 10-5 win over American Coco Vandeweghe and Horia Tecau of Romania.

A little more than 16 hours earlier — after 1 a.m. Sunday — Soares and Murray defeated Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, also at Rod Laver Arena.

A Brazilian player had never won any title at the Australian Open. Now the country has two.

Soares said he didn’t finish media commitments at Melbourne Park until 2 a.m. Sunday then had to do some Brazilian press requests from his hotel room.

“I went to bed at 5, set my alarm for 11, woke up at 8:30 … been living on coffee ever since,” Soares said. “So I had 22 coffees already.”

Vesnina interjected, laughing: “I got a [text] message from him at 4:30 [a.m.], ‘I’m ready, partner.'”

It was all worth it, Soares said.

“I knew I had another important day today. You don’t get a chance to play many Grand Slam finals,” he said. “I mean, I got two in the same day.”

Soares said the level of excitement in Brazil over his achievements was high.

“It’s the first time a Brazilian guy competes in two Grand Slam finals in the same event,” he said. “They were talking a lot about that. And winning both makes it even more special.

“It’s tough to compare or relate anything to Guga [the nickname for Gustavo Kuerten, who won three French Open singles titles]. He’s such a hero for us. He’s so above the sport and everything else. But for me it’s a massive achievement. It doesn’t get much better than that. I came here to play two events, and I won both.”

Soares said he hopes his win will give tennis a boost in his home country ahead of the Olympics in August. He visited the tennis complex in Rio in December and gave it the thumbs-up.

“You guys hear a lot of things about Brazil … not all the time that good,” he said. “We’re famous for hosting well, for welcoming. We’re a very warm country. I hope it’s going to be an amazing Games.”

Dorough & The Backstreet Boys to Perform in Four Australian Cities

Posted on February 14, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Howie Dorough is headed Down Under…

The 41-year-old half-Puerto Rican singer and his fellow Backstreet Boys band mates are heading back to Australia.

The boy band’s In A World Like This Tour will play arenas in four Australian cities, beginning May 8 at Melbourne’s 15,000 capacity Rod Laver Arena and wrapping at May 15 at Perth Arena (also 15,000 capacity). It’ll be their first trek of the country for almost a decade.

Live Nation Australia announced the tour on Thursday and confirmed original member Kevin Richardson would join his bandmates — Dorough, Brian Littrell, A. J. McLean and Nick Carter — for the dates. Richardson, who returned to BSB in 2012 after a six-year break, performed on the 2013 album release, In A World Like This.

The band’s eight studio set opened at No. 5 in the U.S., and was released to coincide with the Backstreet Boys’ 20th anniversary. Richardson and co. have since played shows across Europe, Asia and North America.

“This last year and a half of touring with my bandmates again couldn’t have been any better, but I’m so excited to finally get back to Australia and play for our Aussie fans,” Richardson says in a statement. “It wouldn’t feel complete without spending time in one of our favorite places.”

Tickets go on sale at midday Feb. 23. The band’s fan club (Feb. 13-15), Telstra customers (Feb. 18-Feb. 20) and members of My Live Nation (Feb. 20) have an early window for pre-sale tickets.

The Boys’ documentary Show ‘Em What You’re Made Of debuted in the U.S. last month and is due for an Australian release from March 28.

The Backstreet Boys’ “In A World Like This Tour” of Australia:
May 8 — Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne
May 9 — Allphones Arena, Sydney
May 10 — Brisbane Entertainment Centre
May 15 — Perth Arena

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