Dominic Thiem's legal dispute with former coach Gunter Bresnik likely to be settled soon
The legal dispute between Dominic Thiem and former coach Gunter Bresnik could be coming to an end over the next few days. Out-of-court settlement talks between the two parties began last week, and they appear to have gone well.
Gunter Bresnik has famously sued Dominic Thiem for a whopping 450,000 euros. Bresnik's ground for legal action is that he is entitled to a share of Thiem's income related to contracts that were signed when he acted in the capacity of his manager.
Thiem and Bresnik went their separate ways in early 2019, after working together for more than 15 years. During that span, Bresnik acted as both coach and manager of the reigning US Open champion.
The relationship between the two turned acrimonious soon after the split, with both Bresnik and Wolfgang Thiem (Dominic's father) airing their grievances in the media.
At a hearing late last year, the judge had asked the two sides to consider an out-of-court settlement in the presence of a judicial mediator. And now Bresnik has revealed that the two sides had a fruitful discussion during the settlement talks.
Bresnik also claimed that he got new information during the talks, which he was unaware of earlier. The 59-year-old went on to express hope that the dispute will come to its logical end.
"It was a good clarifying conversation with Dominic Thiem in front of an extremely sympathetic mediator," said Gunter Bresnik. "I learned a lot that I didn't know. I now hope for a sensible end."
(Quotes translated using Google Translate)
We hope that the matter will be over in 10 days: Dominic Thiem's father on the legal dispute
Wolfgang Thiem has also commented on the issue, claiming that the legal dispute is likely to come to an end soon.
"We hope that the matter will be over in 10 days. That is our preferred scenario," Wolfgang Thiem said after the settlement discussions.
Dominic Thiem's father had earlier put part of the blame for the World No. 3's fourth-round Australian Open loss on the unsavory controversy. While Thiem himself did not refer to the dispute after the loss, his father claimed that the quarantine measures, coupled with Bresnik's recent comments on the matter, had contributed to the earlier-than-expected defeat in Melbourne.