Ahead of his opening match at the Mexican Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas has expressed his surprise at the damage done to Acapulco by Hurricane Otis, and has pledged to donate $1000 for every ace he hits this week.
Last October, Hurricane Otis, which was classified as Category 5, devastated the city of Acapulco in Guerrero, Mexico, causing several deaths and billions of dollars in damages.
It has been said that it was the costliest recorded tropical cyclone in the country’s history.
Tsitsipas, who is there for the Mexican Open, spoke about witnessing the aftereffects first hand.
“I was surprised. I didn’t expect the city to be in such a way. A lot of things, a lot of ruins and a lot of unexpected sort of visuals that I got to witness and see. That are disturbing of course because this city has gone through so much in the last few months,” the Greek told Tennis TV.
“I only realized that in fact now that I got to see it how bad the situation was and it’s quite unfortunate what happened here.
“But I hope with the tennis we’re able to support it and do the best possible thing that we can to the municipality and the city in order to bring people back together, raise money and play for a good cause.”
The fifth seed also announced that he will be donating to the city.
“I will be donating $1,000 for every ace I hit this week in Acapulco. It’s going to be transferred to the relief programmes for Acapulco in 2024.”
The 25-year-old is scheduled to play Roman Safiullin on Tuesday February 27 (11am Wednesday AEDT).
Tsitsipas has come close to tasting success in Acapulco. In 2021 he reached the final, losing to Alexander Zverev in straight sets, and in 2022, he reached the semi-finals where he once again lost in straight sets to Cameron Norrie.
This year he is eager to go the distance.
“I keep coming back hungrier, trying to create a bigger sort of desire to lift that trophy. I’m hoping for the best this week and hope my tennis verifies it,” he said.
“I just need to stay resilient and keep on going with the same mindset and the attitude that I always impose on myself when I’m really hungry to do big things in a tournament.”
