Dominic Thiem has continued his crusade to reach the Roland Garros main draw, having been denied a wild card entry to the tournament.
Thiem plans to retire at the conclusion of this year, and yet the competition where he has twice been the runner-up, in 2018 and 2019, saw fit to overlook him, much to the frustration of the tennis world.
After all, the 30-year-old is widely regarded as one of the nicest men on tour, and whilst injuries have not been kind to him of late, he remains one of the outstanding players of his generation just behind the traditional big three.
However, as magnanimous as ever, the Austrian did not allow such a setback to curtail his progress. In fact, speaking since that disappointment, he seems more buoyed than ever.
Dominic Thiem reacts to Roland Garros wild card snub
His latest comments regarding the French Open come courtesy of ESPN, who he spoke to after winning his first qualifying round for the aforementioned tournament.
The former US Open champion completed an impressive comeback win over Franco Agamenone, and is now just two victories away from that elusive main draw, which starts on Sunday.
His next opponent, Otto Virtanen, represents an awkward challenge, but one he is expected to overcome.
But should he not, it seems like he is at peace with his potential absence from what would be his final Roland Garros before his retirement later this year.
He noted: ‘Honestly, I had a lot of time to be at a good ranking. I had enough tournaments and enough time to climb the rankings and I didn’t do it, so I didn’t deserve it and that’s fine. I have had 10 appearances in the main draw at Roland Garros in recent years, that’s more than enough.’
Hopefully Dominic Thiem can make the French Open main draw
As noted earlier, Thiem is not far away from making the main draw anyway, despite attesting that he would be content with what he has already achieved at the tournament.
It would mark a truly outstanding story, were he to accomplish it, and only add to his legacy.
Form has been really hard to come by of late for the injury-prone star, and early exits in ATP and Challenger Events alike have made him a tough watch given his decline.
But, should he pick up form and attain some much-needed time on court ahead of the Roland Garros main draw, who knows what upsets he could pull off before joining Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in retirement.
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