"He's basically a saint"; "A better person than me cause I'd be pis**d"- Fans react to Dominic Thiem's comments on not receiving French Open wildcard

Dominic Thiem did not receive a wild card for the upcoming French Open, and fans are far from happy. The Austrian, who declared 2024 as his last season, is playing in the qualifiers at Roland Garros to make it to the main draw.

Thiem was on his way to the top of the leaderboard when he lost the chance to a wrist injury, in 2021. The 30-year-old could hardly win his first-round matches at the tournaments, let alone compete for titles. This resulted in a drop in rankings for Thiem, who subsequently was not given a wild card for the French Open. The latter would have given the athlete direct entry to the Roland Garros main draw.

Thiem to his credit, stated that he had enough time and tournaments to bring up his ranking to secure a wild card. He pointed out, that he had 10 main draw appearances last season which was more than enough for him.

“Honestly I had a long time to be in a good ranking. I had enough tournaments and enough time to climb up the ranking and I didn’t do it, so I kind of didn’t deserve it and that’s fine. I had 10 main draw appearances in the last years so that’s more than enough.” said Thiem after his first-round qualifying match on X (Formerly Twitter)

One fan pointed out that it was a big-hearted gesture from Thiem to accept his shortcomings and his fate with the wild cards.

"He's a better person than me cause id be really pissed" said one fan

The general tone of the fans was one of protest, further fueled by the fact that authorities handed out six wild cards to only French players.

"Well, those who got WC also didn't deserve to get direct entry to the tournament. But their French passport got them (direct entry)." said one fan

"He’s basically a saint. Cause i would’ve chewed them out. especially once i saw the list of men they actually gave wildcards to" said another fan

Others appreciated Thiem's humble take on the entire fiasco.

"Gracious". said one fan

"How very elegant of him. He is more forgiving than me" expressed another fan

"He is honest" stated a fan

Some fans still hope for Thiem, looking for justice to prevail at Wimbledon and the US Open.

"I hope the US Open gives him a wildcard for his last ever Slam, they already did it for him in 2022. If he gets one at Wimbledon as well, it wouldn’t be shocking despite it being his worst Slam. They at least care about a proper farewell." opined another fan.

Dominic Thiem faces a tricky qualifying draw to make it to the main draw of Roland Garros

2023 French Open - Day Two

Dominic Thiem won his first round at the qualifiers by defeating Franco Agamenone in three tough sets. Even though Thiem lost the first set, the Austrian used his Grand Slam experience to rally back in the next two sets. Thiem is slated to face Otto Virtanen in the next round. On winning this match, the former World No.3 will have to overcome the challenge of either Adrian Andreev or Giulio Zeppieri.

This makes Thiem the first player since 2010 to participate in the qualifying stage of a Major, despite being a former Grand Slam champion. Previously, Thiem won his only Major at the 2020 US Open, defeating Alexander Zverev in the final.