The current COVID-19 outbreak has had a massive impact on the world of sports and tennis. The International Tennis Federation recently came up with an idea to generate a fund for supporting lower-ranked players amidst the Coronavirus. However, 26-year-old Australian Dominic Thiem didn’t respond well to the news.
He mentioned that most lower-ranked players aren’t professionals and do not commit 100 percent to the sport.
“None of the lower-ranked players have to fight for their lives. I’ve seen players on the ITF Tour, who do not commit to the sport 100 per cent. Many of them are quite unprofessional. I don’t see why I should give them money,” Thiem said in a recent interview.
“I would rather donate to people and institution, who really need it. There is no profession in the world, where you are guaranteed success and high income at the start of your career. None of the top players took anything for granted. We all had to fight our way up the rankings,” Thiem further added.
Thiem has been criticized by many other players including Nick Kyrgios for his ideas, but he has mentioned that he won’t back down from them.
“There are just a few things that bother me about the whole thing,” Thiem told Sky Sport Austria.
“I don’t want to back down from my opinion that there are some players I don’t want to support. I’d much prefer it to be chosen by the players themselves because then those players who really need it and who really deserve it will benefit.”
Dominic Thiem has also found support from some other players, while a few players have slammed him for his strong and uncalled for opinion during this hour of need for all professional tennis players.
YouTube Link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsDHzVEiAYA