This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

Nick Kyrgios led the way as tennis pledged financial support to help victims of the Australian bushfires. The disaster has seen lives and homes lost and vast areas of land ravaged by fire, with no end yet in sight.

The new tennis season will begin in Australia on Friday as the inaugural ATP Cup gets under way in Sydney, Perth and Brisbane, with the Australian Open starting on 20 January.

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Kyrgios tweeted: “C’mon @TennisAustralia surely we can do a pre AustralianOpen exho [exhibition] to raise funds for those affected by the fires?”

On Thursday, he pledged to donate A$200 for every ace he serves over the next month, and fellow Australian players Alex De Minaur, John Millman, John Peers and Sam Stosur quickly followed suit with similar promises.

A subsequent announcement came from the ATP Cup that A$100 (approximately £53) for every ace served in the competition will be donated to the Australian Red Cross bushfire relief efforts, with the total expected to exceed A$150,000 (£79,000).

NBL star LaMelo Ball, who plays for Illawarra Hawks, pledged to donate one month of his salary to help victims of the devastating fires.

“It’s sad to see what is happening on the south coast of Australia,” the American said in a statement. “People have lost their homes and everything they own. My parents taught me to help out wherever I can, so this is my way of helping out.”

Big Bash League captains, Brisbane Heat’s Chris Lynn and Melbourne Stars’ Glenn Maxwell, have both pledged $250 for each six they hit in the competition.

“It is special to see so many athletes from various sports getting in behind the real heroes who are fighting to save lives and properties around our country,” Lynn tweeted.

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Cricket Australia has announced plans to auction off players’ shirts from the Boxing Day Test win against New Zealand, with funds going to the Australian Red Cross.

In the A-League, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United have come together to support the bushfire disaster appeal. For every ticket sold at this weekend’s round 13 matches in Melbourne, $2 will be donated.

In a message on Twitter on Thursday, Australian Open tournament director and Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley revealed that plans were afoot.

He wrote: “For weeks we’ve been watching the devastation caused by bushfires across Australia and the people affected are constantly in our thoughts.

“We want to help these communities in a meaningful way and will announce a number of fundraising and support initiatives that will be rolled out across the ATP Cup, Australian Open and our other events over the coming weeks. Stay tuned for further announcements.”

Sydney, where Great Britain play their opening match against Bulgaria on Friday, is the closest ATP Cup venue to the fires. Meanwhile, the Challenger event in Canberra, where air quality is currently very poor, has been relocated to Bendigo in country Victoria due to bushfires and smoke haze in the region.