Tennis stars Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka plus NFL players DeAndre Hopkins and Ryan Tannehill are among the celebrities who will participate in a virtual charity tennis tournament.
FILE PHOTO: Tennis – Australian Open – Third Round – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 24, 2020 Serena Williams of the U.S. in action during the match against China’s Qiang Wang REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo
The “Stay at Home Slam” will be streamed Sunday at 4 p.m. ET on Facebook Gaming and on the tennis Facebook page of the company coordinating the tournament, IMG.
Two-person teams will compete using the Mario Tennis Aces game on Nintendo Switch.
Each team will be allotted $25,000 to donate of a charity of its choosing, with the championship duo getting another $1 million for charity.
Leo Olebe, the global director of games partnerships for Facebook Gaming, said, according to Deadline.com, “Gaming’s superpower has always been bringing people together and right now that’s the case more than ever. Blending that superpower with pro athletes and epic entertainment to raise money for COVID-19 relief and research efforts is a natural fit that we’re proud to be a part of.”
The competing teams will be:
Serena Williams and model Gigi Hadid
Naomi Osaka and model Hailey Bieber
Venus Williams and Arizona Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins
Maria Sharapova and model Karlie Kloss
Kei Nishikori and DJ Steve Aoki
Madison Keys and musician Seal
Taylor Fritz and TikTok personality Addison Rae
Kevin Anderson and Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill
The commentary team will be International Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe and YouTube personality Justine “iJustine” Ezarik.
—Field Level Media