Wimbledon, the world’s most famous tennis tournament, takes place in London this year over the first two weeks of July, and after the extreme two-day heatwave experienced in the UK last year, concerns about high temperatures have increased among players, spectators and organisers as the tournament approaches.
A record temperature of 40.3°C was recorded in England on July 19 2022, just a week after Wimbledon had finished. The hottest day experienced during the tournament remains the 35.7°C recorded back in 2015, beating the previous record of 34.6°C from 1976.1 While most players asked about the heat in 2015 said they were unaffected, Australian Bernard Tomic said he was “fatigued and starting to get dizzy out there with the heat hitting me." A ball boy collapsed during a men’s singles match and was taken to hospital, but spectators were the most affected, with more than 200 people treated by St John Ambulance.
The concerns about high temperatures have led to growing calls for more heat breaks. Wimbledon’s heat rule allows a 10-minute break to be taken between the second and third set for best-of-three set matches or between the third and fourth set for best-of-five set matches when the heat stress index is at or above 30.1°C.2 As well as the impact on players and spectators, hot weather can also affect the game itself when played on grass. Due to a tennis ball being hollow, during a heatwave, the gas inside expands, causing the ball to bounce higher. A high temperature can also make the ball skid across the court’s surface more quickly, meaning the game is played at a faster pace.3
The impact of more extreme temperatures on grass court tennis is one of several factors highlighted by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), the national governing body of tennis in the UK, in its environmental sustainability plan launched last June.4 The LTA also highlighted rising sea levels and severe weather, meaning a higher proportion of tennis venues are at risk of regular flooding, as another major concern. The body said, “It is critical that we play our part in tackling these issues”. It is aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions from its operations and major events by 2030 and has also pledged to reduce waste and energy usage. In addition, it has vowed to “support the wider tennis community in reducing carbon emissions” and wants tennis in Britain to have a “net positive impact on biodiversity.”
The targets set by the LTA are mirrored by Wimbledon organisers, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC), which also unveiled a sustainability strategy last summer, again featuring the aim of reaching net zero by 2030. It also wants to become a resource-efficient organisation and contribute to a “net gain in biodiversity” by the same year.5 Going into detail on how it plans to reach net zero, the AELTC noted that it was already buying renewable electricity to power its operations, as well as installing LED lights and using electric lawnmowers. The organisation said it would build on this in 2023 by integrating decarbonisation plans into its “longer-term estate development projects” and by 2030 will “introduce zero carbon principles to new construction projects.” It added that by 2030 it will “maximise energy efficiency of existing buildings, equipment and appliances; continue to explore opportunities to generate renewable electricity on site; and reduce dependence with the ultimate aim to eliminate use of gas for heating, hot water and cooking.”
According to an estimate published by UK firm Eco Experts shortly after the 2021 tournament, Wimbledon has a carbon footprint of 35,894 tonnes of CO2e in non-Covid years, with 91.3% of that coming from the transportation of fans, players, officials, media and staff to the site. Energy accounts for just 8%, according to the analysis.6 The study found that overall, air travel accounts for 56% of Wimbledon’s emissions – 20,122 tonnes – despite just 11% of the 500,000 people who come to the tournament travelling by plane. In 2022, Wimbledon had 20 electric vehicles in its fleet to transport players during the tournament and used electric buggies to transport guests. The AELTC vows by 2030 to “electrify our vehicle fleet including cars and buggies.” The body also acknowledges the impact of air travel and said that in 2023 it will “balance emissions associated with AELTC staff, player and official flights by contributing to carbon compensation schemes validated to ICROA-approved standard,” adding that by 2030 it will “compensate for unavoidable emissions.”
As part of the efforts to reduce their impact, both the LTA and AELTC have signed up to the UN Sport for Climate Action framework, joining other tennis organisations such as the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the governing body of men's professional tennis, which has adopted the framework’s two global targets: achieving a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040.7 In order to help achieve these aims, earlier this month, the ATP launched a new digital Carbon Tracker in collaboration with digital services and consulting firm Infosys. Hosted within the existing ATP PlayerZone app, it is designed to enable players to track and offset their carbon emissions while travelling to tournaments.8 The application features a dashboard that presents players with a holistic view of their travel-related emissions across multiple seasons and will allow players to declare their travel data and categorise the mode of transport taken to each tournament, calculating an associated emissions footprint.The Carbon Tracker will also introduce a 'Green Badge' that players can earn at the end of each season, to be displayed across their ATP profile and rankings pages on ATPTour.com.
This innovation is encouraging given the high proportion of emissions accounted for by travel for Wimbledon and other tournaments. However, as the game continues to expand globally – and with little sign yet of a reliable way for the impact of flying to be significantly reduced – it appears that the likes of the AELTC may have to rely on carbon offsetting to a large extent in order to reach net zero in just a few years time.
References
1 Wimbledon experiences hottest day ever with high of 35.7C | Tennis News | Sky Sports
2 Heat Rule - The Championships, Wimbledon - Official Site by IBM
3 Tennis: Whatever the Weather! | Dragon Courts (allabouttennis.co.uk)
4 LTA publishes landmark Environmental Sustainability Plan for tennis in Britain | LTA
5 Sustainability - The Championships, Wimbledon - Official Site by IBM
6 What is Wimbledon's Carbon Footprint? - The Eco Experts
7 ATP Targets Net Zero Emissions By 2040 | ATP Tour | Tennis
8 Infosys and ATP Collaborate to Launch Carbon Tracker, Helping Accelerate the Sport's Sustainability Journey (prnewswire.co.uk)
Jonathan's work on the sports industry has been published by The Times, The Observer, The Independent and The Sun, as well as Sport Business, Off The Pitch, FC Business and Zero Carbon Academy.
He has also contributed to BBC Radio 5 Live, Middle East Eye, The Scotsman, Rediff.com., World Soccer, When Saturday Comes, Wisden Cricket Monthly and School Sport.
Away from sports, he has held full-time and freelance roles at a number of global B2B publishers. He was the Founding Editor of Twist - a magazine covering the latest developments across the fashion industry supply chain. The title is published by World Textile Information Network (WTiN). Following the success of the launch of Twist, Jonathan was promoted to Head of Content at WTiN. In this newly-created role, he was responsible for developing WTiN's digital content and social media presence as the company evolved from being a magazine publisher to a market-leading media company across all platforms.
