Earlier this year, Murray announced that he would donate the entirety of his prize money earned for the rest of the season towards a UNICEF relief fund, helping those affected by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Murray will also donate the prize money from his participation in the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. this week. A further donation matching his prize money will be made by the tournament.

Reacting to the same, Ambassador Markarova thanked the Brit and the Citi Open for their great gesture. Markarova urged her followers to catch Andy Murray’s opening match at the 2022 Citi Open on Monday.

Citi Open chairman Mark Ein made the announcement earlier this week and said they were inspired by Murray’s initiative.

Additionally, tournament organizers have launched a portal where fans can contribute to the initiative and pledge an amount for Murray’s matches this week.

Murray has donated all of his prize money since the Indian Wells Masters in March, shortly after the war began in Ukraine. So far, the three-time Grand Slam champion has donated more than $300,000 through this initiative, and this number will only increase with his Citi Open participation and at the remaining events this season. The winner of the ATP 500 tournament in Washington, D.C. will earn prize money worth $342,800.

Speaking during a pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old said that he hopes to have a deep run at the Citi Open, which will provide a sizeable donation to the fund.

“You can’t just forget about this, It’s still going on” - Andy Murray on the Ukraine crisis

While he was happy about getting support from Ein and his team towards his efforts, Andy Murray also spoke of the vital importance of keeping the Ukraine issue in the spotlight. The British player believes that the ongoing crisis in Ukraine has taken a backseat and needs to be talked about a lot more.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray begins his 2022 Citi Open campaign against Mikael Ymer on Monday in what is expected to be a tough match. Murray will face Aslan Karatsev in the next round if he wins Monday’s clash. He could then face second seed Hubert Hurkacz in the quarterfinals. American Reilly Opelka, the fourth seed, is a likely semifinal opponent. Andrey Rublev is the top seed at the 2022 Citi Open.

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