Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka pledged to donate all of her winnings from her tournament next week to victims of the deadly Haiti earthquake that has killed at least 304 people.
“Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break,” the 23-year old, who is of half-Haitian on her father’s side, and half-Japanese on her mother’s side, tweeted in response to the news on Saturday night.
“I’m about to play a tournament this week and I’ll give all the prize money to relief efforts for Haiti. I know our ancestors blood is strong we’ll keep rising,” the tennis star said.
Osaka, who is currently ranked number two in the world, will play in the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Monday.
The champion of the women’s singles tournament will receive $255,220 and the runner up will receive $188,945 and semifinalists will receive $100,250, according to pro-tennis.com.
Osaka last played in the Tokyo Olympics, where she represented Japan. She failed to place a medal, and lost in the third round to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.