Djokovic, Sharapova donate $17,400 to Australia bushfire relief

Tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova have both donated the sum of $17,400 (25,000 AUSD) each towards the Australia bushfire relief.

They join a list of Tennis starts to donate towards the cause after Australian Nick Kyrgios kick-started a wave of support from the sport earlier this week.

Sharapova invited Djokovic in a tweet after she announced her donation of $17,400 and the Serbian agreed to match her donation in his reply.

"The month of January in Australia has been my home for the past 15 years," Sharapova wrote on Twitter.

"Watching the fires destroy the lands, its beautiful families and communities of animals is deeply (heartbreaking).

"I would like to begin my donation at 25K. @DjokerNole, would you match my donation?"

The defending Australian Open champion replied on Monday offering his support: "Yes, @MariaSharapova I would like to match your $25k donation to double the aid sent to these communities," Djokovic wrote on Twitter. "We stand by you, #Australia."

Yes, @MariaSharapova I would like to match your $25k donation to double the aid sent to these communities. We stand by you, #Australia. ???????? https://t.co/wiUZHzg9cz

— Novak Djokovic (@DjokerNole) January 6, 2020

Why are they donating to Australia bushfire relief?

The Australia bushfire relief is a donation towards the recovery process of areas gutted by wildfire across Australia.

About 24 persons have been reportedly killed with about 14.7 million acres of bushland burnt for more than a month.

Naval and air rescue operations were launched on Friday as mass evacuations of towns at risk of being engulfed by flames got underway, CNN reports.