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🇦🇹 Austria /Sports

Tennis takes aim at the plastic bottle, with Waterdrop and Djokovic backing the change

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Vienna-based Waterdrop is promoting refillable bottles and water stations to reduce single-use plastic at professional tennis tournaments.
  • The company began its tennis initiative in Mallorca in 2022, where organizers said the approach saved more than 50,000 plastic bottles.
  • Waterdrop later became an ATP partner and attracted players including Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev, Alexander Bublik, Elina Svitolina and Novak Djokovic, who is also an investor.

Few sports make drinking as visible as tennis. Every few minutes, players sit on their benches, reach for a towel and bottle, and drink. Television captures the routine in close detail. The longer and more demanding the match, the more often hydration enters the picture.

That visibility has given the Vienna-based drinks company Waterdrop an opening. Its concept centers on a sugar-free “microdrink,” a small cube containing fruit and plant extracts that dissolves in tap or mineral water. The aim is to encourage people to drink more water without buying ready-made soft drinks or flavored water in bottles.

The other side of tennis’s hydration culture is the volume of plastic it consumes. At most ATP and WTA tournaments, professionals, ball children and spectators use disposable bottles and throw them away. During a single tournament week, several thousand bottles can quickly accumulate. Waterdrop CEO Henry Murray said the company saw an opportunity in that problem because the solution also supported its sustainability goals.

The issue is permanently visible. Hydration is directly linked to performance in tennis.

· Henry MurrayThe Waterdrop CEO explained why tennis offers a prominent platform for the company’s hydration products.

Waterdrop’s involvement began in Mallorca in summer 2022, when it produced a player bench with an integrated water station. Players received company-made reusable bottles instead of a constant supply of single-use ones, while spectators gained access to refill stations across the grounds. Organizers said the initiative saved more than 50,000 plastic bottles.

The pilot became a wider strategy. Waterdrop became an ATP partner, and American top-10 player Taylor Fritz became one of its first prominent ambassadors. The roster later expanded to include Andrey Rublev, Alexander Bublik and Elina Svitolina, as well as ski racer Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The company’s most prominent connection came in January 2023, when Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, became an investor.

It was a combination that also supported our sustainability goals.

· Henry MurrayMurray described the link between reducing tennis’s plastic use and Waterdrop’s business aims.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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