Naomi Osaka pledges all her Western & Southern Open winnings to earthquake victims in Haiti

Tennis star Naomi Osaka announced that she will donate her winnings from the 2021 Western & Southern Open to help the victims of an earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday morning.

Death toll: The 7.2-magnitude earthquake has left at least 1,297 people dead and over 5,700 injured, forcing the Haitian government to declare a state of emergency, CNN reported.

A tropical storm hitting the country Monday is said to further complicate recovery efforts.
The country is still reeling from the devastation caused by the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 2010, which killed an estimated 220,000 to 300,000 people and affected around three million.

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Painful devastation: Osaka, one of the main draws in the ongoing Western & Southern Open, took to Twitter to express her feelings on the calamity that destroyed 13,694 homes and damaged 13,785 more in her father’s home country.

“Really hurts to see all the devastation that’s going on in Haiti, and I feel like we really can’t catch a break,” Osaka wrote in a tweet Saturday.
After announcing that she’ll give all the prize money she would win in this week’s tournament to relief efforts for Haiti, she added: “I know our ancestors’ blood is strong, we’ll keep rising.”
The tournament, which is set to begin on Monday in Cincinnati, will award $255,220 to the women’s singles winner and $188,945 to the runner-up.
Representing Japan, the 23-year-old athlete is entering the tournament as the second top seed in the WTA singles category behind Australia’s Ashleigh Barty.

Featured Image via NBC Sports (left) and Guardian News (right)

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