Category Archives: Hit for Haiti

>Nadal, Federer, Clijsters, Rafter And Djokovic To Rally For Relief

Posted on January 14, 2011 by admin| Leave a comment

>On Sunday Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Pat Rafter, Novak Djokovic, Sam Stosur, Kim Clijsters and Lleyton Hewitt will join together to raise money for the Queensland flood relief fund. All of these players, excluding Rafter, joined together for a similar exhibition last year called Hit for Haiti. This year it will be called Rally for Relief.

Sam Stosur, whose family was displaced in the Queensland flood in the 80′s, will be donating $100 for every ace she serves this summer.

No word yet on if Jim Courier will provide his services as chair umpire again.

The tickets are for Sunday at 2pm and are first come best dressed.

“Along with many of the other players I was moved by the devastation caused by the floods in Australia. We just wanted to do something to help aid the recovery because we know there are thousands of Australians who will continue to suffer as a result of this disaster.” – Roger Federer


“This is a terrible tragedy, not only the loss of life but the destruction of people’s homes. I am pleased to be able to contribute in some way to help bring it to the attention of the world and raise some money for the victims in the process.” – Rafael Nadal

“As an Australian I cannot help but be touched by such an awful turn of events. It is a disaster on a massive scale. Australians are incredible at pulling together in times of crisis and this is certainly one of those times. If the tennis community can also help play a role in the recovery then we should, both in Australia and internationally. I just think at a time like this it is a case of getting all hands on deck.” – Lleyton Hewitt

“The plight of the flood victims has well and truly struck a chord with the entire tennis fraternity. As a Queenslander I am really heartened by the concern and the keenness from our sport to get in and do something to ease the suffering. I know on the scale of things our contribution is only a small one, but it is good to be able to help out.” – Pat Rafter


“A lot of us just want to make some sort of contribution. It breaks my heart to see what is happening to thousands of people in these floods. I am rapt that the biggest names in our sport are so keen to focus on this despite the fact that the Australian Open starts the next day.” – Sam Stosur

Posted in Australian Open, Charity, Hit for Haiti, Kim Clijsters, Lleyton Hewitt, Media, Pat Rafter, Rafael Nadal, Rally For Relief, Roger Federer, Sam Stosur

Nadal And Federer Practice In Melbourne, Talk About Charity Exhibition

Posted on January 12, 2011 by admin| Leave a comment

Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer have been spotted practicing at Melbourne park ahead of next weeks Australian Open.

Roger Federer plans to recreate the hit that was last years Hit for Haiti, instead raising money for the Queensland flood victims according to his Facebook site. Read more »

Posted in Charity, Hit for Haiti, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

Tennis Greatest Of All Time Debate

Posted on August 28, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

It is next to impossible to pick a ‘GOAT’ for tennis with so many incredible players spanning decades of play, but if you were going to try you have to consider technology, play restrictions and characteristics of a champion, not just statistics. It is hard to deny the records of Roger Federer and his style of play, which at his peak was borderline poetic, but my pick for GOAT is Rod Laver ahead of Roger. Read more »

Posted in Andre Agassi, Bjorn Borg, Charity, Hit for Haiti, John McEnroe, Legends, Pete Sampras, Player Profiles, Rafael Nadal, Rod Laver, Roger Federer

>Champions For Chile

Posted on April 4, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

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Champions For Chile has raise $125,000 USD for earthquake devastated Chile today. The doubles match featured Fernando Gonzalez, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier and Gustavo Kuerten in 2 sets of entertaining tennis with the crowd chanting “Chi-le!, Chi-le!” The money will go towards the estimated $30 billion of damage that was left in the wake of the 8.8 magnitude quake.

Roddick, who committed to the tournament despite being in the finals tomorrow, kept his promise to Fernando and Chile. The tournament director commended Roddick for his commitment. “He is committed to doing this event. In fact, it’s really Fernando and Andy that has pushed the tournament to step up and really support the event. They’re the ones it was their idea.”

Gonzalez, who skipped Indian Wells to aid relief efforts in Chile, talked about hoepfully putting an event like Hit for Haiti, to raise money for his homeland. “We just want to make a match to try to collect as much money as we can for Chile, I mean, I was in like 12 different cities where the earthquake and tsunami was. I saw that they really need help. I’m trying to do this event for Chile. We can do it now. I’m really happy for that… We’re gonna try to make a big show and hopefully the people can have fun.”

With legends like Courier and Kuerten the crowd was more than entertained with Kuerten saying, “I felt lucky to participate. Hopefully this will give people some hopes and dreams.”

“My country will never forget this.” – Fernando Gonzalez

Posted in Andy Roddick, Champions For Chile, Charity, Fernando Gonzalez, Gustavo Kuerten, Hit for Haiti, Jim Courier

>Watch Andre Agassi Make Hit For Haiti Awkward

Posted on March 14, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

>About 60 seconds into this clip is where the mens version of Hit for Haiti became oh so awkward. Basically Andre gave Pete a little bit of stick for being quiet and reserved so Pete turned around, with a big grin on his face to immitate Andre’s walk when preparing to serve. Andre initially laughed but then must have realised he didn’t like being on the receiving end of a little fun and games so he played a low blow and immitated Pete’s poor tipping. Pete responded by serving right at Andre, who was not supposed to be receiving. AWKWARD!!!

Posted in Andre Agassi, Charity, Hit for Haiti, Pete Sampras

>Hit For Haiti Footage

Posted on March 13, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

>Watch some footage from Hit For Haiti here

Posted in Andre Agassi, Charity, Hit for Haiti, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

>Hit For Haiti – Boys Will Be Boys

Posted on March 13, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

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The second Hit for Haiti match in Indian Wells featured Pete Sampras and Roger Federer against Rafael Nadal and Andre Agassi. Rafa came out wearing a shirt with the Haiti flag and ‘Kinbe Pa Luge’ written on in, before sending the crowd into a frenzy with a quick shirt change to his normal Nike gear. Andre Agassi entered the stadium with his usual showmanship, blowing a kiss and nodding in appeciation to each of the 4 walls of fans.

The game was essentially the servers versus the returners, and as predicted the servers won 8-6. But it was Agassi that stole the show with numerous quips throughout the match, some of which seemed to ruffle Pete’s feathers.

When asked before play started what the event meant to him, Agassi said “It’s something to have these generations come together for a common goal and cause. Americans stepped up for Haiti recently but the truth is there’s a lot of people still homeless. The truth is next month is rain season, it’d gonna bring problems, so the people are going to struggle with their lives. And the next month is going to be hurricane season. There’s a lot of problems still out there and if we can help the motivation to help them, it’s a great thing.”

When pressed for an answer about who, out of Nadal and Federer, would ultimately win more Grand Slams, Agassi, again diplomatic, said “I’ve watched this guy across from me (Federer) do some amazing things. I’ve seen a bigger heart in this man (Nadal) than possibly anybody in sports… So watching their future unfold will be… I get a front row seat and that’s the best place to be, not on the court with them.”

Nadal was asked if, as the only childless player on the court, he felt out of place. An awkward smile followed an “I am only 23″ response and a quick deflection of questions about Shakira and starring in her video with Nadal suggesting they should keep working hard to make the world a better place.

Agassi went on to tease the Spaniard while they played after Rafa missed a ball saying “You move a lot faster on TV” as well as poking fun at his own pale skin. He even joked that “All the children are probably wondering, ‘Who are these two old bald guys playing with Federer and Nadal?’” to which Sampras responded with, “I still have some left. You look like Kojak over there.”

It took a slightly awkward turn when Agassi said “You always have to get serious, huh Pete?” and then apparently accused Pete of being a bad tipper, with Pete then imitating Andre’s serve and walk. Pete said in the post match interview “It got a little tense. I just want to tell Andre that I love him. He thinks I’m a bad tipper, but I tip very well, trust me.”

The original Hit for Haiti that was played on the eve of the Australian Open may have only raised $600,000 compared to the $1 million plus donations from Indian Wells but it seemed more light hearted and more enjoyable for the audience. The fact that somehow at a charity event Agassi and Sampras managed to make things a little awkward was disappointing.

Pete Sampras                                   Rafael Nadal
Age: 38                                            Age: 23
Turned Pro: 1988                            Turned Pro: 2001
Weeks at number 1: 286                 Weeks at number 1:  46
Titles: 64                                         Titles:  36
Grand Slams: 14                              Grand Slams: 6
Win-Loss: 762-222                           Win-Loss: 409-93
Career Prize $: $43,280,489             Career Prize $: $27,508,603

                                              VS

Roger Federer                                Andre Agassi
Age: 28                                            Age: 39
Turned Pro: 1998                            Turned Pro: 1986
Weeks at number 1: 273                 Weeks at number 1: 101
Titles: 62                                         Titles: 60
Grand Slams: 16                              Grand Slams: 8
Win-Loss: 688-162                           Win-Loss: 870-274
Career Prize $: $55,350,788             Career Prize $: $ 31,152,975

Posted in Andre Agassi, Charity, Hit for Haiti, Nike, Pete Sampras, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

>Hit For Haiti In Indian Wells – The Ladies Come Out To Play

Posted on March 13, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

>The second Hit for Haiti was held today in Indian Wells, the follow up to Federer’s brainchild on the eve of the Australian Open. The event raised a guaranteed $1 million for Haiti, who was struck by a 7.0 earthquake on January 12th leaving over 200,000 dead and a country crippled by the aftermath.

Today’s event featured the ladies in the opening match, and 94 Grand Slam titles between them. It was a double match, first to 8 games to lead by 2, no Ad scoring with Justine Henin and Martina Navratilova taking on Steffi Graf and Lindsay Davenport. Justine had lost earlier that day but in her second round match against Gisela Dulko, but had said that there was no way she would withdraw from the charity event. However, she was fairly quiet throughout play with Navratilova stealing the spotlight from her younger counterparts.

Navratilova is arguably the greatest doubles player of all time, and the greatest women’s volleyer ever but was still nervous at the start of the match, even though she’s more active that Graf or Davenport. Davenport, mother of two, responded to questions about a comeback by saying “Better left for the charity matches.”

The ladies got off to a comedic start with Navratilova complaining that Graf hits the ball too hard and Graf joking to the male official who helped her gaffa tape her microphone to the inside of her skirt “Oh you’re gonna get it from Andre”. Henin and Navratilova got off to a flying start, breaking Graf to take a 4-1 lead with Navratilova unbeatable at the net. It was the first time in the tournament history that the night match session had been sold out.

After Navratilova cheekily told a lines person to be quiet after they called a fault on her serve, Davenport found her range and touch to get back on serve at 5-4. As the match continued Graf’s signature forehand was on display with Navratilova showing the world one more time why she is hailed on of the best volleyers in the world.

Navratilova’s dominance was too much for Graf and Davenport, with Navratilova and Henin taking the tie 8-6. Martina was satisfied with her performance, saying “It’s not about winning, it’s about not embarrassing yourself.”

When Graf was asked to go into more detail about what she had said earlier in the match about her children (with Andre Agassi) showing no real interest in tennis she explained that, particularly for eldest child Jaden who saw the tail end of dad’s career that they were put off by their parents careers and preferred baseball and horse riding. “They just haven’t showed any interest in it… His association with tennis was that it took Daddy away, so he never really had a good association with it.”

Martina Navratilova                                                   Steffi Graf
Age: 53                                                                       Age: 40
Turned Pro: 1975                                                       Turned Pro: 1982
Titles:  167                                                                 Titles: 107
Weeks at number 1: 332                                            Weeks at number 1: 377
Grand Slams: 18                                                         Grand Slams (singles): 22
Career Prize $: $21,626,089                                        Career Prize $: $21,891,306
Win-Loss: 1442-219                                                    Win-Loss: 902-115

                                                             VS

Justine Henin                                                             Lindsay Davenport
Age: 27                                                                       Age: 33
Turned Pro: 1999                                                       Turned Pro: 1993
Titles:  41                                                                   Titles: 55
Weeks at number 1: 117                                            Weeks at number 1: 198
Grand Slams (Singles): 7                                            Grand Slams (Singles): 3
Career Prize $: $20,352,606                                        Career Prize $: $22,144,735
Win-Loss: 503-109                                                      Win-Loss: 753-194

Posted in Charity, Gisela Dulko, Hit for Haiti, Justine Henin, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf

>What Happened Today?

Posted on January 30, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

>Today Hit For Haiti was replayed on channel 7 to remind people to donate to assist the cause in Haiti as well as create viewing of a hilarious charity match that was previously only seen on live streaming from the Australian Open website.

The program also served as a reminder to viewers that they are able to bid on their favourite players racquets with the proceeds also going to Haiti.

As its stands the bidding is at;

Roger Federer – $14,511.11
Rafael Nadal – $5,000
Novak Djokovic – $2,201.11
Kim Clijsters – $1,500
Jelena Dokic – $721

All bids are in US dollars.

Also later today is the Women’s finals match between Justine Henin and Serena Williams. Their head to head match up stands at 7-6 in favour of Serena.

Donations can be made at www.pih.org

Other charities supported by tennis stars include; Malaria No More http://www.malarianomore.org.uk/splash (Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal, Feli Lopez, Carlos Moya), Organ Donation (Rafa Nadal), Brisbane Children’s Hospital (Kim Clijsters), support of African communities (Roger Federer) and Build African Schools http://www.buildafricanschools.org/ (Serena Williams).

Posted in Australian Open, Carlos Moya, Charity, Feliciano Lopez, Hit for Haiti, Jelena Dokic, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer

>What Happened Today?

Posted on January 17, 2010 by admin| Leave a comment

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Today the players gathered on Rod Laver arena to participate in Roger Federer’s brain child, Hit for Haiti, in front of a sell out crowd. The match was a light hearted way for the players to raise in excess of $200,000 by the end of the set that was fed through a live stream from the Australian Open website.
Teams were divided into red (Federer, Williams, Stosur) and blue (Nadal, Clijsters, Djokovic and a late substitution with Tomic) as per the flag for Haiti. Rafa appeared to struggle on serve frequently, despite making Serena a giggling mess before receiving his serve. Repeatedly Kim took over until at 30-15 Rafa declared “I can serve this one now. 30-15, I feel confident now.”
With some liberal scoring from Jim Courier, and a smash at the feet of Serena from Rafa crossing court at the net, the blue team took the lead 5-4. At the change of ends Novak Djokovic acted as team physio, massaging Rafa’s legs with Rafa pulling up his shorts to allow him better access. At this point Kim Clijsters tried to take over yelling “Can I please do that?” While Kim briefly took on a roll that many women in the audience would have happily handed over their entire wallet for, Novak and Rafa headed out on court arms around each other to take on Roger Federer and Sam Stosur.
While Federer playfully moaned, groaned and squealed every time he hit a ball, Novak teased Rafa who continued to have difficulty on serve saying “I think Kim was a better partner.” He then quickly tried to appease the Spaniard by joking, “I mean a better partner for you. Why you get mad?”
The Djokovic/Nadal team continued to entertain the crowd with Novak playing a great volley from a seated position in the service square, leaving Rafa to fling his body across the ground at the ball. Before long the boys were jumping and bumping chests after a put away shot from Nadal.
Towards the end of the set Kim called for three players simultaneously on each side of the net where her roll was to hide behind the net waving her racquet around to intercept any balls that might fly a path into her racquet. In the tie break Rafa was removed from serve by Jim Courier who deemed him to be struggling too much, and was replaced by Bernard Tomic. Federer also allowed Sam Stosur the opportunity to try and close it out for the Red team. Eventually team red took out the tie break.
Before the players left the court they greeted some representatives from Haiti.


Donations to the Haiti appeal can be made through www.pih.org.

Posted in Andy Roddick, Bernard Tomic, Charity, Hit for Haiti, Jim Courier, Kim Clijsters, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Sam Stosur, Serena Williams, What happened today?