Dominic Thiem: There will be no normal life on the ATP tour this year
Tennis during the ongoing pandemic has been limited to just a few exhibition tournaments. But the one constant fixture in most of these tournaments has been Austria’s Dominic Thiem.
The World No. 3 is one of the very few players to have taken part in almost every exhibition tournament - including his own Thiem’s 7 in Kitzbühel, the Bett1 Aces in Berlin, and of course the extremely controversial Adria Tour.
In a recent interview with Felipe Villamizar of El Tiempo, Dominic Thiem spoke about the lessons learnt from Adria, the impact the pandemic could have on tennis and also on his long-standing love affair with football.
Can't afford to make mistakes regarding coronavirus: Dominic Thiem
The Adria Tour served as a lesson to the entire tennis fraternity with regard to COVID-19. Social-distancing and safety norms were openly flouted by the participants, which caused four players - including the host and organiser Novak Djokovic - to contract the dreaded virus.
Organizers and hosts of subsequent tennis tournaments have learnt from this mishap by implementing tighter health and safety protocols.
Dominic Thiem, who himself took part in the Adria Tour, also learnt his lesson as he ensured all the necessary safety measures at his exhibition event (Thiem’s 7). The Austrian, who has apologised for the Adria Tour multiple times already, showed further remorse by saying:
“After the Adria Tour, more attention is definitely paid everywhere you want to play tennis in the midst of this pandemic. At my exhibition in Kitzbühel (Austria), health was the highest priority for all of us and everything went well, there was no problem.”
“You cannot afford to make mistakes regarding the coronavirus, we have already seen the consequences. The coming weeks will be very difficult and I believe that this year there will be no normal life on the ATP Tour.”
Felipe Villamizar then asked Thiem if the pandemic would force a change in the rules prevalent in the sport. Dominic Thiem recently advocated for a final set match tie-break on the regular tour, but on this occasion the Austrian answered in the negative and said that tennis has 'perfect rules'.
“We have seen some interesting additions to tournaments in recent weeks in terms of protocols," Thiem said. "But honestly, I am sure that tennis will remain as it is, with its same rules and guidelines. It is without a doubt that our sport has perfect rules.”
After my tennis career I'd like to join a football league team: Dominic Thiem
While it is premature to discuss retirement for Dominic Thiem (who is a month shy of his 27th birthday), it is definitely enlightening to hear of his ambitions beyond tennis. Dominic Thiem has been a long-standing fan of football and Chelsea FC, and as such spoke glowingly about it:
“Soccer is my passion and Chelsea is my great love. I like to watch the games in the stadiums and I also have good relations with some soccer players. I could spend hours on this topic every day.”
Dominic Thiem also owns a small club by the name of TFC Matzendorf. Whenever his schedule permits, Thiem gets together with his friends to play a game or two for his club.
The Austrian even sees a future for himself in professional football, and revealed his wish of wanting to play league football for ‘a season’ once he’s done wielding a tennis racquet:
“We talk a lot about soccer and I also like to play. I even created my own team and after my tennis career I would like to join a League team, maybe for a season.”