"Always showing empathy and compassion for others" - Chris Evert heaps praise on Andy Murray for winning 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award
Tennis legend Chris Evert recently showered Andy Murray with praise after he was presented with the 2022 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award.
Murray was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award winner this year thanks to his support and contribution to humanitarian activities for war-torn children in Ukraine. The former World No.1 has contributed his whole earnings from all tournaments this year, a total of $630,000.
In light of this, Chris Evert took to social media to commend the Brit, saying he has always shown "empathy and compassion" for people.
"I second that, a history of always showing empathy and compassion for others," Evert wrote.
twitter.com/darren_cahill/…
I second that… a history of always showing empathy and compassion for others…🙏👍👏❤️ twitter.com/darren_cahill/…
Andy Murray's action also encouraged other tennis players to contribute to humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, with Roger Federer donating $500,000 and Maria Sharapova donating $700,000 to the Ukraine Relief Fund.
"It seemed like something that would give me some extra motivation this year" - Andy Murray on his decision to donate his prize money to Ukraine's war relief efforts
Andy Murray explained his decision to contribute all of his prize money in a first-person essay written for the ATP, saying he felt it would provide some extra motivation for him this year as well as generate some awareness to get others involved in helping.
"Shortly after I decided that from Indian Wells onwards, I would donate my prize money for the rest of the season to UNICEF’s humanitarian response–the final total was just over $630,000. 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," Murray wrote.
"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," he added.
The 36-year-old, who previously won the award in 2014, went on to express his delight at joining Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi as the only players to win it several times.
"I join Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi as two-time winners of this award. Agassi is someone who I looked up to a lot growing up. I know he has done a lot of great things away from the court with his school. Roger’s foundation has also staged fundraising matches for parts of Africa, and I know Aisam has been involved in peace talks in his part of the world," he expressed.