Dominic Thiem to join Austrian army for 6 months
Dominic Thiem, who was recently voted as the ATP World Tour rising star and who had a breakthrough season on court in 2014 has officially joined the Austrian military. It is part of the country's mandatory national service. He will be rendering his service to the military for 6 months, according to reports.
Players usually get exemptions from those few certain things which the common folk of a country has to endure, but it looks like Thiem cannot get away from his service to the Austrian military.
"I am delighted to welcome Austria's biggest hope in the sport of tennis in the army. Dominic Thiem will continue as an army athlete in his meteoric career," said Defence and Sport Minister Gerald Klug in a press release.
Thiem will be training for a majority period of the 6-month training, but he will be allowed to compete in tournaments during this time. But when he is not taking part in a tournament, he will have to go return to his unit in the army.
Thiem is an upcoming talent on the tennis circuit and will be looking to make his mark on the big stage in 2015. His best performance in 2014 was his 4th round appearance at the U.S Open in September, where he ended up losing to Tomas Berdych.