The house Irina Falconi grew up in Ecuador was destroyed.
Her grandmothers, aunts, uncles and dozens of cousins all survived, but many were displaced by the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck the coast of Ecuador on April 16.
That’s why Falconi didn’t celebrate as expected the next day after winning her first WTA tournament since leaving Georgia Tech to turn pro in 2010.
Using social media to spread the word, the campaign had raised more than $4,000 as of Monday. She pledged to match each dollar up to the point the total hits $5,000.
“It’s not like $10,000 is going to rebuild the cities, but if it can buy toilet paper for families …” she said.
Toilet paper may seem odd, but there’s no running water. Falconi rattled off a long list of more things that families affected by the earthquake need, including tents and bug spray because houses were destroyed up and down the coast.
One of those destroyed was the concrete home in Portoviejo in which she lived before her family moved to the U.S. when she was 4 years old. She didn’t remember the home, but was able to take a photo of it when she visited in 2015 for the first time in 10 years.
Falconi learned of the earthquake before her semifinal match in Bogota, Colombia, on Saturday. However, she didn’t know the extent of the damage.
She began to learn the details after her victory that night. She and members of her family belong to a group chat in which they can share photos and messages. The damage was numbing.
This is what she was trying to work through before her first WTA final. She coped by doing two things: schoolwork to complete her business degree from Indiana (she transferred), and that positive nature.
“People live in a world where you think everything negative is going to happen, or everything positive is going to happen,” she said. “I live in a world where everything will be fine. That’s how I was raised and how I think.
“I went in thinking everyone in my family is going to be OK.”
She did and defeated Silvia Soler-Espinosa 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 to win $43,000 and a bundle of points that increased her world ranking to No. 67.
All of that loss and all of that emotional capital spent led to Falconi taking a moment back in her hotel after she won the tournament.
She sipped some champagne for the win and then let the emotions flow for about 30 minutes as she thought about the Ecuadorians affected by the earthquake. She then needed to book flights and take care of the other matters that come with being a professional athlete.
She likely won’t return to Ecuador until the season is over near the end of the year. She said many of the roads are destroyed, and there’s too much going on. Her mother and father are busy trying to relocate their mothers to other residences in Ecuador.
“I need to continue playing,” she said. “It is my job. Honestly, it’s a very difficult situation.”
Irina Falconi’s gofundme campaign to help those affected by the earthquake in Ecuador can be found here: https://www.gofundme.com/2n45ympk.
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