Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem (third in the world) keeps open the invitation for his colleagues Grigor Dimitrov and Croatian Borna Coric, positive for COVID-19, to participate in the tournament he organizes in the town of Kitzbühel between July 7 and 11, if by then they can verify that they no longer have coronaviruses.
“If Grigor Dimitrov and Borna Coric can show a negative result after 14 days of quarantine at home, there is nothing on our part that prevents the two players from participating in Kitzbühel”, organizers of the tournament, called THIEMs7, said this Monday in a statement published on the event's website. However, the final decision must still be taken by the organization's management. If they finally cannot participate, substitutes will be chosen from the applicants who have previously applied without being able to enter this eight-player competition, six of them in the Top 20 of the ATP ranking.
“In case Dimitrov and Coric cannot play in Kitzbühel, the two positions in the group will be filled “ According to a decision that will be made by Thiem and his father, Wolfgang Thiem, indicates the note, published in reaction to the news that the aforementioned players have tested positive for coronavirus during the Adria Tour tournament in Zadar (Croatia). The first stage of that charity event, organized by the world number one, the Serbian Novak Djokovic, It took place in Belgrade between July 12 and 14, and was widely criticized because the participants did not abide by the precautionary measures against the pandemic. Yesterday's final in Zadar was suspended after Dimitrov's positive.
The THIEMs7 will take place under security measures coordinated with the Austrian health authorities, including the strict requirement for everyone to maintain a minimum physical distance of one meter from other people, the statement highlights. It is also foreseen that “all the players and companions will be tested immediately after their arrival in Kitzbühel” and “strict conditions will be applied to the 500 admitted spectators”, with the allocation of specific seats and the obligation to leave the venue quickly at the end of each session. “The isolation of suspected cases is also possible” and there will be “no line judge,” organizers continue.
On the other hand, today it was reported that the sale of tickets for the different sessions of the tournament has been postponed until tomorrow, which can only be purchased on the Internet, on the website www.thiems7.com, and that initially It was planned for today. Endowed with 300,000 euros in prizes, tennis players will be measured in two groups. The plan is that Thiem himself, the Russian, will play in the “IFA” group Andrej Rublev (14), the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (19) and the Croatian Borna Coric (33), while in the “SoccerCoin” the Italian would participate Matteo Berrettini (8), French Gael Monfils (9), the Russian Karen Khachanov (15) and the Austrian Dennis Novak (85).