"ATP Schedule: Australia - USA - EU - USA - UK - USA - Asia - EU": Opelka gives major flaw to ATP's 'PR play' surrounding Net Zero

Reilly Opelka raised concerns about the ATP's sustainability plans.

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) recently announced its participation in "Sports for Climate Action" (UNSCA), which aims to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2040.

They also launched an initiative called the ATP Carbon Tracker, which allows players to track and quantify their carbon emissions during the tour, along with providing recommendations and guidelines to offset their carbon footprint.

The American tennis player Reilly Opelka did not find the ATP's plan particularly appealing and made a post on Instagram, mocking the initiative:

“Good PR play tho,” he wrote.

“ATP schedule: Australia, USA, Europe, USA, UK, USA, Asia, Europe,” Opelka added on his Instagram.

The initiative has already seen players commit to mitigating 100% of their travel emissions throughout 2023, such as Dominic Thiem and Cameron Norrie, and several players have expressed their support for the initiative, including Andrey Rublev and Emil Ruusuvuori.

Opelka's concerns about the measures taken by the ATP to reduce carbon footprint are related to the amount of travel that players are required to undertake, considering that travel is a major source of pollution. However, it is also important to consider energy consumption, food, and waste management at tournaments.

Opelka is currently ranked as world No. 635 since he has not competed since last year when he lost in the round of 16 at the ATP 500 Washington Open to Nick Kyrgios, who went on to win the tournament a few days later. Former world No. 17 underwent hip surgery and will not participate in Wimbledon. The date of his return is still unknown.