Kyle Edmund has admitted players are “too lazy” to clean up after themselves after Serena Williams’s former hitting partner took to Twitter to vent his frustrations about litter left on the court.
Sascha Bajin, who has recently joined Naomi Osaka’s team, tweeted a picture of a Wimbledon practice court littered with plastic bottles and other rubbish.
In an accompanying message he asked players and coaches to take their rubbish with them when they were done.
He wrote: “Dear players/coaches @Wimbledon it’s not to hard to take your empty water bottles and throw them away after practise.
“The grounds people are supposed to take care of the court and not clean trash. Maybe the club could provide a trash can for every 2nd court tho as well. #justsayin.”
Dear players/coaches @Wimbledon it’s not to hard to take your empty water bottles and throw them away after practise.The grounds people are supposed to take care of the court and not clean trash. Maybe the club could provide a trash can for every 2nd court tho as well. #justsayin pic.twitter.com/Q3E7tG1Q7g
— sascha Bajin (@BigSascha) July 1, 2018
Asked about litter on the court, Britain’s top-ranked male Edmund said: “That’s been a problem at every tournament, that players are too lazy to pick up their water bottles, myself included.”
He added: “I think, yeah, it’s no good, really? We’re professional tennis players, we should obviously look after our rubbish. I always try to do the best I can to clean up after myself.
“It’s just human beings being lazy, knowing that someone else will come pick it up.
“I haven’t lost any sleep over it, but it’s probably best to obviously clean up after ourselves.”
Bajin, who has also worked with Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki, said the lack of bins on court had left his team using the stringers’ bags for their waste.
Speaking to the Press Association, he added: “I think there is a few things that could be done.
“You could just clean up after yourselves, or the club could provide some sort of bins.
“I just thought it was something that should be raised. It is not nice to leave a mess, especially here – everything is so beautiful, they keep it so classy.
“For me, I feel bad for the grounds people. It is not their job to clean up after players and waste time.
“It would be nice if players could just clean up their mess.”
The issue of plastic bottles was also raised with Johanna Konta.
Speaking after her first-round victory, the top-ranked British woman said: “In terms of water bottles and things like that, at home personally I don’t have water bottles at home.
“I have a filtration system. I have glass containers which I then put in the fridge. I try not to use plastic bags or anything like that.
“I think you speak to Evian probably more than Wimbledon.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a battle that everyone is facing. Yeah, no, I’m a big fan of looking after our planet because we’ve only got one.”
Evian has been the official bottled water supplier to Wimbledon since 2008, and last year the partnership was extended until 2022.
A spokeswoman for the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC) said: “The AELTC takes care to ensure adequate facilities are provided for both players and their teams.
“The practice courts are checked by the team of court attendants and ground staff at regular intervals throughout the day.”
She added: “Evian, whom we recently renewed with for a further five years, have similarly announced their commitment to achieve circular recycling by 2025.
“We are proud to have a partnership with Evian, and value their support in helping to sustain the running of The Championships and the All England Club for the long term.
“Where possible the AELTC uses RPET (100% recycled plastic) containers which are then able to be recycled again after use.
“Where it is not possible to source RPET products, we source PET products instead, which again can still be recycled after use. In 2017, only 1.4% of waste went to landfill.”
