China's Li to donate all from Madrid

By Tang Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-11 09:11

BEIJING - China's No 1 tennis player, Li Na, has promised to donate all the prizemoney she wins at the WTA Mutua Madrilena Madrid Masters, which served off on Monday, to earthquake-hit Yushu County in northwest China's Qinghai province.

Li said she was at her training base in Munich when she heard about the 7.1-magnitude earthquake, which occurred on April 14 and killed at least 2,200 people and left more than 100,000 homeless.

"I was in Germany when the disaster happened in Yushu, so I could do nothing at that time. So, I decided to donate the money I earn in Madrid. I hope it can help some of the people reconstruct their homes," the 28-year-old said. "It would be great if I win the tournament, then I can donate a lot. Anyway, I will try my best. "

A premier-class event on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the Madrid Masters offers about $9,000 to those who make the main draw and about $789,000 to the champion.

The fifth-ranked athlete on the latest China Forbes' list, Li said she will also donate the prizemoney she earns at October's China Open to the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation and will go to the earthquake zone after Wimbledon.

China's world No 22, Zheng Jie, and doubles star Yan Zi have donated $4,400 and $ 11,800 to Yushu repectively.

A Sichuan native, Zheng also contributed $176,000 after the 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan in 2008, most of which she earned by reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon that year.