Gael Monfils pulls out of Dominic Thiem's exhibition event. Here is why...

French tennis star Gael Monfils will not play the THIEMs 7 , being organised by Dominic Thiem, from July 7th to 11th due to personal reasons.

Gael Monfils pulls out of Dominic Thiem's exhibition event

The organisers of the event commented, "Of course we are disappointed and we are especially sorry for the fans who would have loved to see him play with us. The talks with possible substitutes are already underway."

A few days ago, German Jan-Lennard Struff was announced as a replacement for Croatian Borna Coric. Others who have confirmed their participation in the tournament include Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev, US Open semi-finalist Matteo Berrettini and Dennis Novak besides Thiem. Grigor Dimitrov's appearance in the event remains uncertain after he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Thiem's 7 organizers had earlier said that they are open to welcoming Dimitrov and Coric to the event if they test negative after 14 days of home isolation. The event is set to take place from July 7-11 in Kitzbuhel, Austria. "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. In the event that Dimitrov and Coric cannot play in Kitzbühel, the two places in the group will be filled. All players and companions will be tested immediately after arrival in Kitzbühel...strict conditions will apply to the 500 admitted spectators."

Gael Monfils reached a career-high ATP world No. 6 singles ranking in November 2016. His career highlights include reaching two Grand Slam singles semifinals at the 2008 French Open and 2016 US Open and three ATP Tour Masters 1000 singles finals. Monfils has won ten ATP World Tour singles titles.

Dominic Thiem's career-high ATP ranking is world No. 3, which he achieved in March 2020. He is the second highest-ranked Austrian player in history, behind Thomas Muster, who reached World No. 1 in 1996. Thiem has won 16 ATP Tour singles titles, including the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, and reached three Grand Slam finals. Thiem reached the finals of the 2018 and 2019 French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal on both occasions, and the 2020 Australian Open, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/31sKc03