Eight of the world's leading tennis players have devoted the eve of the Australian Open to Haiti. They played a unique exhibition match, in Melbourne to raise money for victims of last Tuesday's earthquake.

15 time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer teamed up with reigning Australian Open women's title-holder Serena Williams and Down Under natives Lleyton Hewitt and Samantha Stosur.

Their opponents were 2009 Australian Open men's winner Rafael Nadal, 2008 victor Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, and US Open champion Kim Clijsters.

The players wore microphones on the court, adding to the entertainment of a mixed-doubles match that featured player substitutions.

It was Federer's idea to hold the event, which he helped organize a day earlier.

Roger Federer, ATP World No.1, said, "I had the idea that we could maybe do something. As a tennis family, very rarely we do get together and have an opportunity for a great cause to all come together at once."

The event, dubbed "Hit for Haiti," raised nearly US$200,000, an amount that organizers say will increase.

The teams were named for the colors of the Caribbean country's flag, which Melbourne residents Zoe Doran and Marckenson Brown, both of Haitian descent, held aloft while acknowledging the crowd's support.

(CCTV January 18, 2010)