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'Seriously impressive': Alexander Zverev re-affirms 'classy' Australian Open pledge

chris young
Sports Reporter
·3-min read

Alexander Zverev won through to his first Grand Slam semi-final with a powerful win over Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday - bringing a pre-tournament pledge back into the spotlight.

Prior to the Australian Open (and his 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Wawrinka) the German up and comer pledged to donate all of his winnings to bushfire relief.

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As a highly ranked qualifier, Zverev could have been knocked out in the early rounds of the tournament and still made a more than generous contribution.

But now, with seven figures up for grabs from this point on, Zverev couldn’t help but chuckle at the position he found himself in.

With a spot in the Australian Open final now within reach, Zverev was asked by John McEnroe how he felt about his pledge.

"Easy to say in the first round, right," Zverev cracked.

“Yes, it is still true. I hope I can make it happen. I made the people of Australia promise, I will keep that promise if it happens.

Alexander Zverev re-affirmed his pledge to donate the money he would get for winning the Australian Open to bushfire relief after winning through to the tournament's semi-final. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)
Alexander Zverev re-affirmed his pledge to donate the money he would get for winning the Australian Open to bushfire relief after winning through to the tournament's semi-final. (Photo by TPN/Getty Images)

“I'm not a money driven person. My parents always taught me with money you should achieve things that help others and help the people that actually need the money.

“Four million Australian dollars would be nice. I mean, it would be very, very nice. I could maybe buy myself a few cars or something.

“But there is people that actually need it for their homes, for rebuilding wildlife, rebuilding houses, rebuilding the life that they once knew.

“So it's much more important that they get that than me."

Zverev wins over fans with pledge

The total purse for winning the tournament, $4,120,000AUD, is nothing to be sneezed at.

Even if Zverev doesn’t win the tournament, the 22-year-old also pledged to donate $10,000 for every match he wins at Melbourne Park, with the running total now up to $50,000.

The German star won plenty of fans for sticking to his work about his potential prizemoney.