Wozniacki, Azarenka in Thai flood fundraiser

Wozniacki, Azarenka in Thai flood fundraiser
Bangkok post, December 30, 2011

World number one Caroline Wozniacki has arrived in Thailand for a charity tennis match against Victoria Azarenka to raise money for the country's recent flood crisis, a spokeswoman said Friday.

World number one Caroline Wozniacki, pictured during a match last month, has arrived in Thailand for a charity tennis match against Victoria Azarenka to raise money for the country's recent flood crisis, a spokeswoman said Friday

Denmark's Wozniacki will play world number three Azarenka of Belarus on Sunday in the coastal resort Hua Hin, with ticket revenues going to relief efforts for inundations that swamped huge areas of the country and left nearly 800 dead.

A spokeswoman for the World Tennis Charity Invitation said all players had arrived in Thailand and were spending their days sightseeing ahead of the event, which also features men's number 18 John Isner of the United States and retired popular Thai player Paradorn Srichaphan.

"I have seen some of the pictures of the terrible floods and I am delighted to be a part of the World Tennis Charity Invitation," Wozniacki said earlier this month.

The Dane is in Thailand with her boyfriend, top golfer Rory McIlroy, who bowed out of the Thailand Golf Championship earlier this month after suffering a bout of dengue fever that has hurt his bid for the European number one spot.

She will head to Perth, Western Australia, next week for the Hopman Cup.

Thailand's devastating floods, which at their height affected 65 of the 77 provinces in the low-lying nation, deluged hundreds of thousands of homes and forced the closure of large industrial parks, disrupting global supply chains.

The waters have since receded significantly but many areas still face a major clean-up operation.