Andy Murray Wins ATP’s Humanitarian Awards, Pens Touching Essay

Andy Murray was awarded the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for the second time. On Thursday, he received the award for his charitable contributions to helping Ukraine following the country’s invasion by Russia.

In 2022, Andy Murry donated over $630,000 of his prize money to UNICEF’s humanitarian response to help Ukraine. Murray is the fourth player to win the award multiple times after Roger Federer, Andre Agassi, and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi. He previously won the award in 2014.

Speaking of the award, Murray said:

It’s an honor to be named recipient again. The reason to do the right thing is not for an accolade like this, but it is nice that it is appreciated somewhere.

Murray wrote an essay on the ATP website explaining the thought process behind his philanthropic efforts. In his essay, Murray stressed the importance of empathy and as he got older, he realized that there are things more important than sports.

I think in situations like these it is important to be empathetic and do what you can to help others. When I was younger, in my early 20s, I didn’t really think about anything else except my tennis. As you start to get older and maybe mature a little bit, you realize there are things that are more important than sports.

I found it important to speak out on certain subjects that were important to me or to do certain things for charities that touched me or were important to me. I did some fundraising early in my career for one of my best friends, Ross Hutchins, who was diagnosed with cancer.

UNICEF Chief Executive Jon Sparkes praised Andy Murray for his contributions, telling the ATP

We are hugely grateful to UNICEF UK Ambassador, Andy Murray, for generously donating this season’s prize money to UNICEF UK. The incredible donation will support UNICEF’s work responding to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, which is having a devastating impact on the country’s 7.5 million children

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