Andy Murray donates prize money to Ukraine following Russian invasion
The former world number one has been named winner of the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for 2022
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Andy Murray has been named winner of the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for 2022 after donating his prize money to Ukraine.
The Scot announced in March, following Russia’s invasion, that he would give all the prize money he earned from that point on to help children in the country through Unicef.
Murray, who is a Unicef ambassador, revealed on Thursday that the final total is just over 630,000 US dollars (approximately £510,000).
The former world number one said: “It seemed like something that would give me some extra motivation this year. I thought I could also raise some awareness and hopefully get others involved in helping, too.
“There are 7.5million children in Ukraine and, after more than nine months of increased conflict, 5.2million of them are in need of assistance.
“When you see images of children on the news who were impacted by things like this, that makes it even more difficult to stomach. I have four young children who are really fortunate that everything is fine with them. But, being a parent, it affects you differently. You try to put yourself in their shoes.
“I’m in the fortunate position to try to make some sort of difference, so hopefully the money that’s been raised through Unicef can help some of the children who have been affected.
“In 2014, I became a UNICEF UK Ambassador, and later that year I received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the first time. It’s an honour to be named recipient again. The reason to do the right thing is not for an accolade like this, but it is nice that it is appreciated somewhere.”
Meanwhile, British doubles player Joe Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram have been named world champions for 2022 by the International Tennis Federation after retaining their US Open title and winning the ATP Finals for the first time.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments