Dispute with ÖTV - Wolfgang Thiem pulls players from the south town
One day after the Austrian Davis Cup team moved into the final round in Madrid in November, there was a big scandal - Wolfgang Thiem announced from Indian Wells that he will pull his players out of the south town.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Mar 08, 2020, 05:57 pm
The Austrian Tennis Association (ÖTV) announced on Saturday evening in the press release that the anticipation for the first participation in the Davis Cup was great. "Madrid, we are coming!" Was to be read. That is true, of course, after the success against Uruguay in Premstätten. The only question is: with whom? Barbara Muhr, the Styrian association president, did not manage to get to the top of the ÖTV with her "Austrian Tennis Committee" (ATC).
Which in turn means that Wolfgang Thiem will not become sports director. "If the ÖTV doesn't want to work with me, I don't want to work with him anymore," Thiem, who is currently with his son Dominic in Indian Wells, told the Kronen Zeitung .
First of all, this means that Thiem's players Dennis Novak , Jurij Rodionov and Sebastian Ofner will leave Südstadt together with their coach and will in future do their training at "Better Tennis" in Vienna and Traiskirchen.
It is uncertain whether this will also lead to a test of power in terms of Davis Cup line-up for Madrid, but is considered unlikely. Dominic Thiem has often emphasized in the recent past that he definitely wants to be part of the final tournament. It remains to be seen how that will look in the light of the new situation.
In any case, Thomas Schweda, General Secretary of the ÖTV, expressed optimism in the Kleine Zeitung . "We had a meeting with the team in Graz on Tuesday, in which we also talked about Madrid," said Schweda. "And everyone has expressed their interest in being there. And whoever experienced the mood in the team cannot imagine that one would not come."
In any case, the focus should be on qualifying for the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid for the first time. This participation is also associated with a large financial injection - for the association, but also for the players.