Facebook Gaming to host a virtual gaming tournament with Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams, Gigi Hadid and more on Sunday

The tournament will begin at 1PM PST on Sunday, May 3 (May 4, 1:30am IST) and it will be live streamed on Facebook Gaming.

The tournament will be live streamed on May 3. (Facebook Gaming/Twitter)

At a time Covid-19 pandemic has locked people inside their homes, Facebook Gaming is hosting a virtual tennis tournament that will see sports stars and Hollywood celebrities compete in order to raise $1 billion for charity.

"The #StayAtHomeSlam is part of #PlayApartTogether, a gaming industry initiative to help people stay safe, informed and connected through games," Facebook Gaming wrote in a tweet.

The tournament will begin at 1PM PST on Sunday, May 3 (May 4, 1:30am IST) and it will be live streamed on Facebook Gaming. In the tournament, top Tennis stars such as Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Venus William, Madison Keys and others will compete in a game of Mario Tennis Aces to raise money for various charities. The tournament will be hosted by tech blogger iJustine and tennis player John McEnroe . 

The biggest names in tennis are grabbing their virtual rackets for the #StayAtHomeSlam, live on Facebook Gaming this Sunday (May 3), in partnership with @IMGTennis.

Watch tennis legends like Venus & Serena Williams compete in Mario Tennis Aces for a $1M charity donation! pic.twitter.com/8tVZD4W3cB

— Facebook Gaming #playaparttogether (@FacebookGaming) April 29, 2020

The pairs competing in the upcoming tournament include -- Maria Sharapova and Karlie, Madison Keys and Seal, Naomi Osaka and Hailey Bieber, Kevin Anderson and Ryan Tannehill, Serena Williams and Gigi Hadid, Venus Williams and Deandre Hopkins, Kei Nishikori and Steve Aoki and Taylor Fritz and Addison Rae.

On occasion, Taylor Fritz, Steve Aoki and Maria Sharapova took to Twitter to make the announcement and share her excitement. While Sharapova and Fritz said that she will be playing to support No Kid Hungry, Aoki said that he would be supporting Education Through Music.

Excited to be teaming up with @whoisaddison for the @IMGTennis #StayAtHomeSlam and to play for @nokidhungry. Check it out this Sunday on @FacebookGaming. pic.twitter.com/hPfZfuB1qe

— Taylor Fritz (@Taylor_Fritz97) April 30, 2020

Let's do this, @karliekloss! Excited to team up for the @IMGTennis #StayAtHomeSlam and to be playing for No Kid Hungry. Check it out this Sunday at 1pm PT on @FacebookGaming. pic.twitter.com/rDqJlRVNYy

— Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) April 30, 2020

They're not ready for us, @KeiNishikori!!! I'm stoked to team up for the @IMGTennis #StayatHomeSlam and to be playing for Education Through Music. We're definitely the team to beat…tune in Sunday May 1 at 1PM PT & watch live on @FacebookGaming.https://t.co/bEevLEOqIQ pic.twitter.com/OIREtoE7BN

— Steve Aoki (@steveaoki) April 30, 2020

Separately, Facebook Gaming launched a new Tournaments feature earlier this month in order to help users play online games with their friends. The feature allows users to create multiple tournament styles such as single elimination, double elimination, and round robin.

"Whether it's someone getting together with family and friends or whether it's a creator of a tournament for viewers or supporters, or whether it's an esports organization, this is a big part of gaming," Mina Abouseif, the engineer behind Tournaments, had said in a statement to VentureBeat.