ATP and Unicef launch Super 8 at World Tour Finals – headlined by Murray and Djokovic

The ATP and Unicef have announced a new partnership that will use next week’s tennis finale in London as a platform for raising both awareness and funds for the children’s charity.

Dubbed “Super 8” to mark the elite eight men who will compete for one of the sport’s most prestigious trophies, the campaign builds on a strong tradition among the tennis fraternity to work with Unicef.

Throughout the tournament, short films about the charity’s work, narrated by the “Super 8” players—Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils, Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem—will be broadcast during the event, giving spectators the opportunity to text to donate throughout the eight-day tournament. To kick-start the fundraising, the ATP has committed to donating to Unicef the proceeds from all children’s tickets sold for the eight-day finale.

World No1 and No2, Murray and Djokovic, are already ambassadors for the charity, following in the footsteps of Roger Federer, who was appointed an international goodwill ambassador in 2006, Serena Williams, who took on the same role in 2011, among several other players.

Murray, Djokovic and Federer have all received the ATP’s Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award in recognition of their charitable efforts both for Unicef and many other causes.

Murray began working with Unicef in 2014 and remains a UK ambassador. In June 2015, he featured in a series of comedy tennis sketches for Unicef UK’s #BeatDisease appeal, raising awareness and funds to keep children safe from disease. The videos scored over a million views on his Facebook page.

In September 2015, spurred on by the child migrant and refugee crisis, Murray donated £50 for every ace he served to the end of 2015 to the charity’s work. Donations were matched by his partner, Standard Life, and by the LTA and ATP, and together with donations from his fans, he raised over £83,000.

This September, he launched an annual fund-raising exhibition event in Glasgow, “Andy Murray Live”, to raise money for Unicef and a local children’s charity.

Djokovic has been an ambassador for Unicef in Serbia since 2011, and is now an international goodwill ambassador. His role dovetails with the activities of his own Foundation in attempting to improve the lives of children, with a particular focus on the importance of early childhood education and development.

With his sponsor, Uniqlo, he supported the Schools for Asia initiative in Bangladesh, China and the Philippines, as well social inclusion and poverty reduction projects in Serbia.

Of the partnership with the World Tour Finals, Unicef UK Executive Director, Mike Penrose, said: “Through the power of sport we can transform children’s lives and we are incredibly excited to team up with the ATP at one of the biggest events on the tennis calendar. With the help of the “Super 8”, we aim to raise vital funds so that Unicef can continue helping to protect children by providing life-saving food, vaccines and education.”

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President added: “We are delighted to partner with Unicef and to launch the “Super 8” campaign at our season finale, as we aim to unite the tennis family in helping some of the most disadvantaged children around the world.

“We are particularly pleased to be able to donate the proceeds from children’s ticket sales towards the campaign.”

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals have attracted more than 1.8 million fans to the O2 arena since the tournament, the biggest indoor tournament in the world, moved to London in 2009.

Djokovic plays his first match this Sunday afternoon, with Murray beginning his campaign on Monday evening.