"I'm not going to talk about Nick Kyrgios again" - Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic have been at the center of controversy over the last few weeks. The actions of these players during the much-maligned Adria Tour caused a lot of drama, and Australia's Nick Kyrgios led the charge in criticizing the trio.
But now Thiem seems eager to move past the incident, if his words in a recent interview are anything to go by.
Nick Kyrgios has one look and I have another: Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem was asked again yesterday what he thought of Nick Kyrgios' continued tirade against the Adria Tour players, but Thiem tactfully tried to put an end to the argument.
“I’m not going to talk about Nick again," Thiem said. "He has one look and I have another, both completely different. So there is no point in arguing. In a few weeks, no one will remember this episode.”
Dominic Thiem also spoke about the post-pandemic world that tennis would have to come to terms with - specifically with respect to stadium attendance.
“Regarding tennis, the situation I think will be same before, that will not not change," Thiem said. "What will no longer be same is the atmosphere we live in in major tournaments, where thousands of people came to see us play. We will have to get used to this.”
The war of words between Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios and Alexander Zverev
The biggest reason why Kyrgios had directed his ire at Dominic Thiem was because the Austrian had come out in defence of Alexander Zverev. The German had drawn a lot of flak for being at a party after promising to self-isolate, but Thiem called it a case of 'bad luck'.
“He should have done it like me," Thiem had said. "He was also tested negatively, only his mistake was that he first wrote the statement and then had the bad luck of being filmed at the party. But I don’t like the way people criticize him.”
Sascha Zverev had earlier written on Twitter that he would be going on 14 days of self-isolation.
That enraged Nick Kyrgios, who put out several social media posts branding Zverev as selfish. And when he heard of Thiem defending Zverev, he questioned the Austrian's intellect too.
Dominic Thiem then lashed out at Kyrgios by asking him to look in the mirror himself.
“Kyrgios has built a lot of nonsense himself. I understand even less when he interferes with everything. It would be better if he came to terms with himself rather than always criticizing other,” Thiem said.
Kyrgios is not one to keep quiet though, and made a comeback on Twitter.
Nick Kyrgios didn't hold back in his continuous slamming of Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic. The Australian even likened them to 'potatoes', and questioned their status at the top of the sport.
“People losing lives, loved ones and friends, and then Thiem standing up for the ‘mistake’. These guys are the ‘top’ of our sport. SMH (Shaking my head).”
It will be interesting to see if Nick Kyrgios now responds to Thiem's latest comment on the affair.