Dominic Thiem's exhibition to go ahead as planned, Coric and Dimitrov still invited
Dominic Thiem has maintained a packed schedule since the restart of professional tennis amid the COVID-19 pandemic. He contested the Austrian Pro Series in his home country before participating in the controversial Adria Tour hosted by Novak Djokovic, and is now playing in Patrick Moutragolou's new-age innovative Ultimate Tennis Showdown.
Amid all the tennis and the announcement of the revised dates for the US Open and Roland Garros, Thiem lifted the trophy at the first leg of the Adria Tour in Belgrade. The Austrian is also planning to host his own exhibition called 'Thiem's 7', which is set to be played on the clay courts of Kitzbuhel in Austria from 7 to 11 July.
The only problem is that the organizers of Thiem's 7 had invited Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric to act as the star attractions of the tournament.
The Adria Tour has run into a considerable amount of trouble after both Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday. Novak Djokovic's event seemingly had no social distancing norms in place and the players, including Dominic Thiem, were even seen roaming across the city of Belgrade during the night.
But despite the setback, Dominic Thiem's invitational tournament is expected to go ahead as planned. And perhaps more significantly, both Dimitrov and Coric are still on the roster of players set to feature in the event.
There is nothing on our part that prevents them from participating: Organizers of Dominic Thiem's invitational
Dimitrov and Coric have both announced that they are in mandatory 14-day quarantine as prescribed by their respective medical teams. However, they could still be in Kitzbuhel for Dominic Thiem's invitational if they recover in time.
In an official statement issued via the event's website, Dominic Thiem and his team declared that if the players quarantine themselves and test negative after 14 days, they will be allowed to participate.
"If Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric can show a negative result after 14 days of quarantine at home, there is nothing on our part that prevents the two players from participating in Kitzbühel," said the statement. "In the event that Dimitrov and Coric cannot play in Kitzbühel, the two places in the group will be filled."
Dominic Thiem's event is set to be held with security measures in coordination with the Austrian health authorities. That includes the strict requirement for everyone to maintain a minimum physical distance of one meter from other people.
The statement further read:
"All players and companions will be tested immediately after arrival in Kitzbühel...strict conditions will apply to the 500 admitted spectators."
There will also be allocation of specific seats, and an obligation to leave the venue quickly at the end of each session. The statement further emphasized that there could be "isolation of suspected cases" and that there would be "no line judge".
All eyes will be on Dominic Thiem at his event, and any exhibition event that takes place now will be under sharp scrutiny after the Adria Tour disaster.