Novak Djokovic reacts to Dominic Thiem's rumoured retirement news

Novak Djokovic will start his campaign at the 2024 Italian Open on May 10.

Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic has lauded Dominic Thiem for his personality and values; however, he has denied commenting on the rumours of the Austrian’s potential retirement.

As per reports by Austrian media and a few tennis journalists, the 2020 US Open Champion is considering retiring at the end of the current season. The 30-year-old suffered a horrific injury during the 2021 Mallorca Championships, and since then, he hasn’t been able to perform at his best.

Between 2021 and 2022, he was sidelined from action for nine months. Nevertheless, he is yet to completely recover from injury even after three years. Recently, he complained about minor inflammation in his right wrist while playing in a Challenger tournament in Hungary. Consequently, reports of Thiem’s retirement have started surfacing.

During a recent press conference, Novak Djokovic was asked about his take on Dominic Thiem’s potential retirement in the coming months. The Serb stated that he couldn’t comment on the topic until the news was confirmed. He said, “Well, I haven’t heard of that. Unless he confirms it, I will not comment on the retirement because rumours are rumours. I can speak about him.”

Novak Djokovic then went on to laud the Austrian tennis star as a great human being with appreciable human values and ethics. Novak Djokovic added, “First of all, a great guy, very good person, someone that has very good manners, good values, family man, somebody that always took time to say hello, always showed respect on the court, off the court.”

Also Read: Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem set to retire in October: Reports

The ATP World No. 1 also lauded Dominic Thiem for his on-court prowess. Before his injury, Thiem was one of the most consistent performers on the ATP tour; he reached the final of the French Open twice (in 2018 and 2019) and the Australian Open in 2020. The Austrian was also ranked #3 in the ATP Rankings in 2020 while he was in his prime.

Thiem has played only six matches this year, losing four, and he’s currently #117 in the ATP Rankings. However, as per the aforementioned report, he’s expecting his last tournament to be the ATP 500 Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

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