While the focus of the tennis world has been on Wimbledon, the thoughts of people around the world, including many members of the tennis family, have been with those impacted by the recent earthquakes in Venezuela.
On 24 June, two earthquakes caused widespread damage throughout the country, with thousands of people reported to have lost their lives. Nicolas Pereira, the two-time ATP Tour titlist from Venezuela who is the alumni representative on the ATP Player Advisory Council, has helped spread the word about those suffering from the effects of the natural disaster.
“First and foremost, my deepest condolences to all the families of the victims, who are the primary sufferers of this catastrophe,” Pereira said. “Second, my overwhelming respect and admiration for everybody that with their hands started to get people out of the rubble, the Venezuelan people that responded. And my eternal gratitude to the foreign help that came from all corners of the world.”
The former No. 74 player in the PIF ATP Rankings spoke about how much Venezuelans love tennis, and how nice it has been to see many people around the world show their support.
“It's been a magnanimous response from the international community. Everybody, all the Venezuelans from all over the world,” Pereira said. “Everybody is deeply disturbed and deeply touched by what's going on in our land. And everybody's pitching in, so that's always very comforting to see.”
Pereira wanted to make everyone aware that the effects of the earthquakes will remain for “many, many years”, which will take a big effort and “a lot of money” to recover from. He wanted to spread a message of goodwill, try to get the tennis world involved and share his country’s gratitude for the widespread international response.
“It's a message of hope. It's a message that we’ve got your back as much as we can, and the International community, which I find myself being a part of now is doing whatever they can,” Pereira said.
“There have been 30 million people [for whom] the World Cup and Wimbledon became practically meaningless this year because of the tragedy. There are many people that lost families, many kids that were left without parents. And that's a priority for everybody that is proud to be a Venezuelan.”
In line with the organisation's mission to serve beyond the court, the ATP will be making a donation to help those rebuilding from the Venezeula earthquakes. Fans interested in supporting the cause can do so through the Global Empowerment Mission.
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