16 Jan 2011

Players laugh it up to raise funds for flood victims

6:56 pm on 16 January 2011

Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and other top tennis players hammed it up in exhibition matches on the eve of the Australian Open to raise money for victims of the country's devastating floods on Sunday.

The men's titans shelved their fierce rivalry to play a few farcical points before teaming up in doubles against Belgium's Kim Clijsters and local hope Sam Stosur in front of 15,000 spectators at a packed Rod Laver Arena.

At least 18 people have been killed in Stosur's home state of Queensland, where floods spanning an area the size of France and Germany combined have obliterated whole towns and left thousands homeless. Dozens more people are missing.