Roger Federer to Take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a Charity Match

Roger Federer will take on Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga for charity match. Federer made the announcement on his official Web site on Tuesday.

"I will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga just before the start of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Jan. 8, 2014," wrote Federer. As Federer posted on his Web site, the proceeds of the said charity event will go to his foundation, the Roger Federer Foundation, as well as to the Australian Tennis Foundation. Australian tennis legend Rod Laver is expected to appear as one of the special guests, according to Federer.

Federer, along with his mother Lynette, were the ones behind the Roger Federer Foundation. It was built to promote sports and help unfortunate people. It has extended support to over 49,000 children in Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Ethiopia, and Switzerland. Aside from his own foundation, he has supported different charities too. He set up an exhibition match called Rally for Relief, involving some of the top players in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour and World Tennis Association (WTA) tour. Its proceeds were donated to the victims of the tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004.

"Jan. 8 is going to be an exciting night, Tsonga and I will be playing a charity match at Rod Laver Arena," wrote Federer on his Twitter account which just recently reached 1 million followers. "I hope the charity match with Tsonga is as loud as this," he later on tweeted, along with a link to a YouTube video of him and Tsonga during a match in Colombia where the crowd was cheering loudly.

Federer does have a big heart, and he certainly will not stop with his philanthropy work and outreach programmes, just yet.

We are quite sure that the charity event is going to be exciting. We also hope that it will bring a lot of money to fund real great causes. The tickets for the said event, ranging from $65 to $1,600, are currently being put up for sale on Ticketek.com.au.