Tennis: Andy Murray to compete in the Monte-Carlo Masters

Having initially missed out on a wildcard for the Monte-Carlo Masters, Andy Murray will now compete in the event following the withdrawals of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz.

Stan Wawrinka, Fabio Fognini, Valentin Vacherot and Jack Draper were initially the recipients of the highly-coveted wildcards, which were announced last week. However, a lot can change in a week, and a lot has happened since that announcement.

Nadal and Alcaraz pulled out earlier this week, with both suffering injuries from which they have not sufficiently recovered. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gaël Monfils have both since pulled out, leaving room for Murray, who looked to have missed out, to compete in the tournament, which begins on Saturday 8th April.

Murray, who has recovered from two hip operations, hasn’t competed at the Monte-Carlo Masters since 2017. The 35-year-old Scotsman reached the semi-finals of the competition in 2009, 2011 and 2016.

Dominic Thiem returns to Monaco

Another player to profit from the spate of injuries in the lead up to the tournament is Austrian player Dominic Thiem. He benefits from Monfils’ injury, which meant that Draper’s entry was no longer on invitation. Thiem won the US Open in 2020, but hasn’t reached a Grand Slam final since. He has notably suffered with a recurring wrist injury.

Fognini, who was reliant on a wildcard to compete in the event at the Monte-Carlo Country Club, has also had to withdraw through injury, and he is replaced by compatriot Lorenzo Sonego. Wildcards have also been granted to Frenchmen Luca Van Assche and Benoit Paire, whilst Monégasque players Lucas Catarina and Hugo Nys have the chance to feature, but must first pass through the qualifying rounds.

 

 

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Photo by Carine06

AMADE celebrates 60 years of grassroots help to disadvantaged people worldwide

Monaco-based charity AMADE celebrated its 60th anniversary with an event hosted by Caroline, Princess of Hanover to showcase the association’s work in helping disadvantaged children and adults around the globe.

Founded in 1963 by Princess Grace, AMADE, the World Association of Children’s Friends, has spent six decades supporting a wide range of programmes managed by on-site individuals and organisations for the benefit of local communities in some of the world’s most underprivileged regions.

The annual conference was held on 31st March and was presided over by Caroline, Princess of Hanover who welcomed roughly 50 guests, partner associations, corporate sponsors and donors to discuss the previous years’ successes, difficulties and results, as well as to lay out a game plan for the upcoming year.

AMADE has created five complementary umbrella programs, namely Dignity for Women, A Civil Status for All, Energy of Hope, Capoeira for Peace and Unaccompanied Minors to achieve their goals, with projects that span needs perhaps unthought of in developed countries.

Dignity for Women, for example, gives menstrual hygiene access to women and girls, as well as offering medical and psychological assistance to those who have suffered sexual abuse or violence.

To highlight another project, with 237 million children under the age of five living without a birth certificate, and another 166 million not legally registered, A Civil Status for All works to ensure that these children do not fall between the cracks, being deprived of health care, education and basic services.

These kinds of ordinary yet necessary programmes make huge impacts on communities and allow progress where there was none.

The association also is big on philanthropy, and as such, the 60th anniversary meeting was capped off with a round table led by Fabio Vitale, Head of Wealth Planning and Impact Solutions at BNP Paribas Wealth Management, who presented the bank’s expertise in terms of individual philanthropy advice and the benefits of working with partners such as AMADE.

The first 60 years have made such a difference and they continue to look ahead at ways to “provide appropriate, local, effective and sustainable responses to the problems faced by people in their communities.”

To be part of the solutions, or for more info, visit the AMADE website on https://www.amade.org/en/index.html

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