Barty to give Brisbane winnings to Australia bushfire victims

World number one Ash Barty will donate all her winnings from this week's Brisbane International to Red Cross to help victims of Australia's bushfire crisis. Barty revealed on Sunday that she h alrey donated AUD 30,000 to Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) to help with injured wildlife, after seeing effects of fires back in vember. But she has w decided to do more and will give her Brisbane winnings  -- potentially USD 250,000 -- to Red Cross.

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Barty to give Brisbane winnings to Australia bushfire victims

"I think for me this started two or three months ago. We have to remember, this has been going on for a long time across our whole country," Barty said.

"And first I saw of it was actually flying home from Fed Cup final from Perth back to east coast of Australia and we could see some of smoke and some of fires from plane, so that really hit home," she ded.

"Obviously worst of it is still out re at moment." 

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Barty enjoyed a stellar 2019, winning French Open and WTA Finals on her way to becoming first Australian women's number one since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976. 23-year-old grew up in Queensland city of Ipswich, just down ro from Queensland Tennis Centre, and said she was thrilled to see so many people coming to watch her train this week. "You think, first off, qualifiers for women's event and re are that many kids out re watching players practice, watching people play, that really brought a smile to my face," she said. "And that kind of flicked me into tournament mode." 

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Barty will take extra pressure into Australian Open as she tries to become first local winner since Chris O'Neill took title in 1978. "I kw that I've done all of my work and all of my training well," she said. "I've done it to best of my ability, and w it's about coming out re and competing. "That's why we do all hard work. It's why we put in all hours, just to come out and enjoy competition." 

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