Melzer on Mückstein's Thiem demand - "Wasn't good for me"
At a press conference of the Austrian Tennis Association, sports director Jürgen Melzer also commented on the discussion about Dominic Thiem's vaccination status.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Oct 28, 2021, 03:45 pm
Magnus Brunner has been President of the Austrian Tennis Association for a year. Reason enough to take stock of the Erste Bank Open 2021. Which is very positive on the part of the ÖTV. With 400,000 active members, the association is the second largest in the country, of which 75,000 regularly take part in the championship. Tennis is a huge economic factor with an added value of 680 million euros annually, as a study commissioned by ÖTV has revealed. In addition, there are more and more opportunities for professionals to collect points for the world rankings in Austria: in 2021 this was mainly the case for the two ATP challengers in Anif and Tulln, and in the coming year there will be a third event with Mauthausen.
Jürgen Melzer is also pleased. The sports director of ÖTV, who has been in office since the beginning of the year, would like the next generation to experience Italian conditions. There are so many tournaments at the second and third professional level that the young players hardly have to leave the country at the beginning of their careers. So it's no wonder that the Italians are doing so well.
Melzer in trial phase with Misolic
Filip Misolic is an Austrian who has shone at ITF and, most recently, Challenger tournaments this year. And Melzer recently started a kind of trial phase with just that. There was also a joint training session on Thursday, and Melzer is happy to provide advice and assistance to one of the most promising Austrians. However: there will be no tour coach Melzer who accompanies Misolic for 40 weeks a year. But that is clear to both parties.
In the years below, there are two names in particular that Melzer would like to highlight: Joel Schwärzler and Tamara Kostic. Of course, it would be better to have a broader base in the youth, but these two in particular have very good prospects. Also because, according to Melzer, the team of coaches in the southern part of the city is excellently positioned. With Vlado Platenik they have brought an absolute top man to Austria, the Slovakian has already trained Daria Kasatkina. And with Philipp Wessely there is an excellent fitness coach for the young talents. There is still a lot of catching up to do in this area.
ÖTV President Brunner supports corona vaccination
Finally, the public request from Health Minister Wolfgang Mückstein to Dominic Thiem that he should be vaccinated was not left out. ÖTV President Brunner is a proponent of the corona vaccination, as is Jürgen Melzer, who is fully vaccinated. But: The fact that Mückstein picked Dominic Thiem out of the many still unvaccinated Austrians, "that was not good for me," says Melzer.
After the Austrian number one wants to start in Australia and there is probably something like a compulsory vaccination upon entry, one assumes that Thiem will get the vaccination protection in time, as announced.