Maria Sakkari in the new adidas x Parley Wimbledon collection
(Picture: Handout)This year’s Wimbledon tournament is the greenest ever, with a top player calling on fans to do their bit for the environment.
SW19 bosses have launched an ambitious 2030 “zero waste” goal which means by that date every product at the championships will be used again.
Tennis fans are already getting used to paying a pound deposit for reusable cups when they buy a first drink. Millions of cans, bottles, paper and racquet strings will be harvested over the fortnight.
Even non-recyclable items and food waste is undergoing an energy recovery process to produce electricity for the National Grid.
Spectators are served their strawberries and cream in plastic-free cardboard boxes and no plastic straws are used.
World number five Maria Sakkari, 26, urged everyone to play their part by recycling. She said: “It’s wonderful to see Wimbledon go the extra mile to be its greenest ever.”
Sakkari herself has teamed up with adidas, whose X Parley collection is made from plastics intercepted on remote islands and shorelines. Their collaborators Parley for the Oceans say they clean up one plastic bottle from shores for every minute an adidas athlete plays during Wimbledon.
Sakkari told the Standard: “Coming from Greece, we have many beaches. It’s heartbreaking to see plastic bags and bottles in the sea.”
Sakkari, whose boyfriend is Konstantinos Mitsotakis, 24 - son of the Greek prime minister, says she hopes he will join her London-based brother Yannis and sister Amanda watching her play.
“It’s lovely to have my family around,” she says. “It’s tough to see them when you’re travelling so much.
“But I love London. It’s a very nice city. Wimbledon is a beautiful tournament. The atmosphere is very different to any other. The fans are very educated on tennis.”
Sakkari says he doesn’t fear anyone at Wimbledon not even Serena Williams, 40, the 23-time grand slam winner.
She added: “I am one of the top players in the world, so I just trust myself and don’t see why I won’t go further. Serena is just a legend that you don’t have to say much about.
“But everyone at Wimbledon is dangerous. The level of women’s tennis is very high. You have to be careful from the first point in the first round.
“I really enjoy my time on the court - it’s one of the reasons I still play tennis.”
World No5 Stefanos Tsitsipas , 23, who was also raised in Athens, added: “I want to use my platform to inspire positive change and looking after the planet should be everyone’s top priority.
“Adidas’s collection helps drive awareness to end plastic waste, something we need to do together, as a global community.”
