Hubert Hurkacz reached the Wimbledon Championships semi-final last year, and he hopes to have a great run this year with added motivation this time around as well.
The Polish player is one of the best servers on the ATP Tour, and he proved it on the grass courts of the All England Club last year. He was the last player to beat legendary Roger Federer in a professional match, a win that sent him into the semi-finals of the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.
He then fell short to Italy's Matteo Berrettini, as the Italian made it to the final against Novak Djokovic. This time around, Hurkacz added a bit of motivation for himself ahead of the third major of the season, as every ace he hits will count.
No player needs motivation to try and do well at Wimbledon due to the magnitude of the event; however, Hurkacz won't be playing just for himself this year. The Polish player followed fellow compatriot Iga Swiatek in publicly backing the people of Ukraine.
Hurkacz pledged to donate 100 euros for every ace he hits at Wimbledon this year. The Polish player announced it on Twitter.
"I’d like to announce that starting tomorrow I am pledging to donate 100 euros for every ace I hit at Wimbledon to help support the people of Ukraine. Hope my serve works well!"
It's a nice initiative, but should the Polish player lose in the first round, he wouldn't donate too much. That's not likely to happen as he will be one of the event's favourites.
At the 2021 Wimbledon, Hurkacz hit 54 aces, an average of nine aces per match. Should he repeat the feat this year, he would donate more than 5,000 euros to the people of Ukraine. In the tournament's first round, he will take on Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.