Andy Murray Raises Huge Amount For ATP’s Player Relief Fund and Healthcare Service

Published 05/01/2020, 3:10 AM EDT

Former World Number one Andy Murray defeated Belgium’s David Goffin 7-6(7-5) at Virtual Madrid Open Pro Finals. In the tennis at home series, three-time Major champion Murray defeated World Number two Rafael Nadal en route to his title.

After claiming his title, the Brit will be donating half of the Madrid’s prize money worth US $45,000 to the United Kingdom National Healthcare Service (NHS). And he will deposit the other half in the ATP Player Relief Fund’s account, which would provide salaries to the lower-ranked tennis professionals amid the coronavirus pandemic. These are the players who do not have any other source of income except for the ATP tournaments’ prize money.

Andy Murray shares about playing virtual tennis

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“’It was good. I enjoyed it, there’s not much we can do just now, we spend most of the days indoors and can’t get out much so it was a fun thing to do. The semi-final match I’d have liked to have been played properly. There will be people saying ‘you shouldn’t have been in the final’,” Murray reflected after his win.

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Going to get ‘virtually’ legless celebrating my win online @mutuamadridopen Hope anyone who watched got some sort of enjoyment out of it in these tough times. I’ll be donating half of the 45 thousand dollars prize money to the NHS and the other half to the tennis player relief fund. #tennis #castore #nhs #stayhome
A post shared by Andy Murray (@andymurray) on Apr 30, 2020 at 12:52pm PDT

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Also, there were some discrepancies while playing virtual tennis. “It’s a difficult thing to organize with all the timezones and internet connections… It was nice to chat with some of the players, too,” he said.

After his close victory against World Number 10 Goffin, Murray had this to say.

“Of all the matches I played, that felt like a proper match, we were a similar level. I think he’s genuinely a little bit better at the game than me. He was able to use the drop-shot and the inside-out forehand and stuff like that,” said Andy Murray.

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“He had a few more options but my serve was probably the biggest difference. When you’re nervous in an actual tennis match you feel a little more in control. When you’re playing with technology you don’t feel as much in control. Maybe that adds a little bit to the nerves.”

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Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.

Andy Murray Raises Huge Amount For ATP’s Player Relief Fund and Healthcare Service

Andy Murray shares about playing virtual tennis

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