Wildcard also possible

French Open: Thiem must hope for six withdrawals

Dominic Thiem has already reached the Paris final twice

(Bild: APA/AFP/Geoffroy VAN DER HASSELT)

One thing is certain: If Dominic Thiem is fit, he will also be competing at his eleventh French Open in Paris. However, it remains to be seen whether he will play in the main competition (from May 26th) or in the qualifiers beforehand. This is because in the entry list already published six weeks before the second tennis major of the year, Thiem, currently number 105 in the ATP ranking, misses out on the main draw by six places, meaning six players would have to withdraw.

Thiem had already announced a few weeks ago that he would definitely play qualifying. It is also possible that he will apply for one of the wildcards. "You can't apply for a wildcard yet, only from the 20th. But yes, it would be relatively logical if he's not in the main draw," Thiem's manager Moritz Thiem said in response to an APA inquiry on Thursday. He also assured that Thiem would definitely play in the qualifiers.

Chances are good
The 30-year-old Lower Austrian's chances of a wild card are there purely due to his success, as he has reached four semi-finals (2016-2019) and two finals (2018,19) en suite at the world's biggest clay court tournament. In the past three years, however, Thiem was eliminated in the first round, last year in five sets against Pedro Cachin (ARG).

(Bild: AP, AFP, krone.at-Grafik)

Before Paris, Thiem still wants to compete at the Masters 1000 tournaments in Madrid (from April 24) and Rome (from May 8). He will have to qualify in both events.

Incidentally, Austria's number one, Sebastian Ofner, will also be competing in Madrid and Rome. In between, he has currently scheduled a Challenger in Aix-en-Provence (April 29).