Thiem: “Have to sacrifice one of the two Grand Slams”

“First of all, it’s cool that the French Open is taking place. No matter whether in May or October. The only problem is: There are only two weeks between the US Open and French Open - getting far in both will be almost impossible. If I play the US Open really well, the French Open will be very, very difficult. Flying out early in New York, on the other hand, would be better for Paris. I have to sacrifice one of the two Grand Slams, that’s how it is at the moment,” explained Thiem in an interview with the Tiroler Tageszeitung on the occasion of his invitation tournament “Thiem's 7”, which began on Tuesday in Kitzbühel. The 26-year-old from Lower Austria, however, described the clash of dates in the second week of the US Open as a “win-win situation. If I play well in New York, I'll go far there. Otherwise, I'll get on the plane and look forward to Kitzbühel. “I can only win,” said Thiem, referring to the clay court tournament in North Tyrol, where he would be the defending champion. Thiem defends Zverev and Djokovic This year's Australian Open finalist "doesn't like" the way "people" "criticize" the German tennis star Alexander Zverev. After the Adria Tour, which was overshadowed by several positive corona cases, he announced that he would isolate himself, but was released shortly after this statement filmed at a party . “He is treated as if he were a primary school child. But he is a 23 year old man. Of course he made a mistake – but I don’t understand why everyone is getting involved now,” emphasized Thiem. The French Open finalist of the past two years also admitted that “mistakes happened on the Adria Tour that I am extremely sorry for (...). The hygiene rules were not adhered to. But it's the same as with Zverev: I don't understand why so many people are targeting Novak Djokovic (initiator of the tournament, note). He didn't break any laws. “You have to say that clearly,” Thiem emphasized that he “doesn’t understand the criticism of us.” “I was now in Nice and saw pictures of other cities. It's no different than the tournament in Belgrade. And then now hit Djokovic like that? That’s too cheap for me.” Regarding the planned return of the ATP tour in Washington (from August 14th), Thiem said: “It’s extremely wobbly. The corona numbers are increasing enormously in America, and now player Frances Tiafoe has also tested positive. And it is anything but certain that the US Open will take place. Otherwise that would be the start of a return to normality.”

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Thiem: “Have to sacrifice one of the two Grand Slams”

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