Simona Halep donates USD 20,000 to Australia bushfire relief fund

Romanian tennis player Simona Halep has donated USD 20,000 to Australia bushfire relief fund after the completion of the Australian Open on Saturday.

Halep took to Twitter and wrote on Sunday, "Happy to announce that I have donated a total of $20,000 to the bushfire relief fund. I'll be on my best behaviour from now on, promise. @darrencahill #Aces4BushfireRelief #AusOpen."

Former world number one faced a semifinal exit at the hands of Spain's Garbine Muguruza in the Australian Open. Before taking part in the competition she committed to donate USD 200 for every time she threw a tantrum at her coach Darren Cahill.

"Well guys, you know I love Australia, but you also know I don't hit too many aces. Sooo I want to help and my pledge is this... every time I give @darren_cahill a hard time in my box during all my matches in Aus, I will donate $200. This way I will raise a lot more money," she had tweeted.

American Sofia Kenin clinched the women's singles title of the Australian Open after defeating Muguruza 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the summit clash on Saturday.

Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Chief Minister Andrew Barr on January 31 declared an emergency in the region, saying that the capital is facing the worst bushfire threat since the devastating fires of 2003, local media reported.

Fires have wreaked havoc in parts of Australia for months and have got worse in the past few weeks, given that the temperatures in the country typically peak in January and February.

More than 30 people and an estimated one billion animals have been killed and thousands of homes have been destroyed since September, last year.