Taylor Fritz is donating Australian Open prize money to the LA Wildfire Relief Fund

MELBOURNE, Australia – American tennis player Taylor Fritz said she is donating the prize money she earned for her first-round win at the Australian Open – about $82,000 – to a relief fund to help victims of wildfires in the greater Los Angeles area.

“I mean, I think that’s really the least I can do,” said US Open finalist Fritz, who was born in Rancho Santa Fe, California and still lives in the state.

“SoCal is definitely my home forever. I still spend a lot of time in LA, but I’ve been in LA for quite a while. I have impressed friends; Family not so much. I have to evacuate some of my family. The house where my brothers grew up burned down. Obviously, they don’t live there anymore,” Fritz said after reaching the third round with a 6-2, 6-1, 6-0 win over Chilean qualifier Cristian Garin at Melbourne Park.

“A lot of people are affected by it,” added Fritz, runner-up to Janic Sinner and Australia’s No. 4 seed at the US Open in September. “I think if you’re in a place to help, you should.”

Authorities have not determined the cause of the massive blaze, which has killed at least 25 people and destroyed thousands of homes, on its way to becoming the country’s costliest fire disaster.

Several athletes with connections to the LA area are competing in the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.

Four-time major champion Naomi Osaka says she sent someone to retrieve her 1 1/2-year-old daughter’s birth certificate from their California home when it caught fire. Tristan Boyer, 23, of California, who won the first round but later lost, said his father had to evacuate their home in Altadena.

“We have friends and family who are now homeless. It looks really, really devastating,” Boyer said. “Obviously trying to do what I need to do to prepare and play tennis, but control what I can control right now. But it is difficult to confirm.”

Fritz will play French veteran Gael Monfils for a berth in the fourth round in Australia. Fritz also remembers what is happening back home.

“I just want everybody to be safe obviously,” Fritz said. “What happened is just crazy.”