'Dominic Thiem has damaged his reputation', says former Wimbledon champion

With professional tennis stopped for almost three months now due to the global health emergency, a great deal of fuss has risen regarding the financial aid to be allocated to second-tier players in this period of crisis. World number 1 Novak Djokovic did his best to help lower-level tennis players, but the statements of Dominic Thiem, which reiterated his intention to help only those boys who deserve his support, made a great sensation. “I have seen many players on the ITF circuit who are not 100% committed to the sport. Some are unprofessional and I don't see why I should give him my money "- explained the Austrian in a recent interview.

Bartoli blasts ‘rude’ Dominic Thiem

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli believes Dominic Thiem has damaged his reputation with his comments claiming some struggling professionals don’t deserve his financial help. “I think to me he phrased it quite badly,” Bartoli told Tennis Majors. “When you have the whole world trying to help each other, I think it was a little bit too rude from him to say straight away ‘I’m not going to help those players. I sort of understand his point, I think he wanted to say that he knows some of them or he knows the behaviour of some of them, and for him they are not behaving the way they should. They don’t train enough, they are not professional enough and therefore he doesn’t want to help them. Fine, but I’m sure he knows two or three guys in that group that work extremely hard, are trying their hardest and still don’t make enough money. I think to scratch completely the idea and say he is not giving anything, I think he’s making his image quite damaged, and I think that’s a bad communication" - she added. The World number 3 is engaged in an exhibition tournament in Austria, more precisely in Sudstadt, sponsored by Generali. Dominic won the first two matches of his pool giving also spectacular shots.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/36Hkp51