Dominic Thiem Earns New Recognition, Becomes Ambassador for...

Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem has been named as the new ambassador for the sustainability of nature by the Rio Open, as per the Indian Express.

Thiem, who reached the finals of the Australian Open in Melbourne and lost in a close five-setter to Novak Djokovic, is the top seed at the Rio Open.

Speaking about his role as the ambassador, Thiem says, “Because of my education. My parents care a lot about the environment and wildlife, so I also got involved. And now that I’m a little bit famous, I try to spread good messages to my fans and the world. I try to use less plastic in my daily life. Try to eat less meat and animal products, which I think is important. I think the most important thing is to reduce plastic bottles, to reuse glass bottles, to use huge water dispensers. If every sports event in the world does that then we can reduce the amount of bad plastic a lot.”

With fellow tennis star Roger Federer coming under attack from climate activists, Thiem said he could not possibly top flying because of his profession as a tennis player but did agree that the usage of cars should be reduced to the extent possible.

Thiem plays his first round match at the tournament on Wednesday against Felipe Meligeni Alves. The Austrian lost in the first round here last year to Laslo Dere in the first round and in the quarter-finals of the 2018 event to Fernando Verdasco but won this event in 2017.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38IYRoH