Thiem skipping Tokyo 2020 to vulture yet another 250 tourney

DreddyTennis45

DreddyTennis45

Hall of Fame
Couldn't believe my eyes but apparently this guy is so shameless that he's going to skip the biggest sports event in the world to vulture another meaningless ATP250. He justified this decision by saying he loves his country which is flawed logic because he would be doing the same thing by representing Austria at the Olympic games which comes around every 4 years compared to a meaningless tournament in kitzbuhel which is played every year.

The supposed "Prince of clay" who has:
0 Roland Garros titles
0 Monte Carlo titles
0 Rome titles
0 Madrid titles
0 Hamburg titles

The guy lives off vulturing useless events like Buenos Aires and Kitzbuhel to rack up cheap points with extremely weak fields. Most shameless player I have ever seen
 
Poisoned Slice

Poisoned Slice

Bionic Poster
@Federer and Del Potro

It should always be about country.
tve41095-20050905-1579.jpg
 
kishnabe

kishnabe

Talk Tennis Guru
He has enough sponsorship, why not play 2020 Olympics. He won a HC MS1000, no doubt he has decent shot.....
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
He doesn't seem to have any confidence that he can do well at the Olympics. It really looks as if he's going to finish his career without ever representing Austria once!

Wonder if Austrian tennis fans prefer to see him in Kitzbühel again next year rather than passing up yet another opportunity to represent their country at the biggest sporting event in the world?
 
R

Robert Baratheon

Guest
DISGUST.
I LOVE DOM.
BUT THIS IS THE SHÏT.
I mean he already CAME HOME this week.
WHY HE WANTS TO SKIP THE OLYMPICS IS BEYOND ME AND REASON!!!
 
Djokodalerer31

Djokodalerer31

Hall of Fame
weakera said:
Djoko is desperate for gold but ironically doesn't even live in Serbia.
Click to expand...

With Djokovic - its the different story! Of all the things that are possible to achieve in tennis - Olympic Tournament victory is the only thing he misses in his resume! You could say the same about Federer if you completely forget he never won Monte-Carlo and Rome masters tournaments...All things considered and given all the implications olympic gold for Djokovic is more important, than for anyone else!
 
TimHenmanATG

TimHenmanATG

Hall of Fame
Mainad said:
I recall some of them ducked Rio 2016 because of the Zika virus eg. Raonic.
Click to expand...

That was their official claim.

In reality, they were bottlers who didn't have the stomach for the fight.

It's amazing how the purported Zika scare didn't perturb the likes of Nadal, Federer (who withdrew through injury), Murray, Djokovic, Nishikori, Del Potro, Fognini, et al.

The likes of Raonic, Gasquet, Berdych, Zverev, Thiem, Isner, etc. chickening out is nothing unexpected, considering that these guys aren't exactly renowned for their mental fortitude on the court.
 
Im(moral) Winner

Im(moral) Winner

G.O.A.T.
TimHenmanATG said:
That was their official claim.

In reality, they were bottlers who didn't have the stomach for the fight.

It's amazing how the purported Zika scare didn't perturb the likes of Nadal, Federer (who withdrew through injury), Murray, Djokovic, Nishikori, Del Potro, Fognini, et al.

The likes of Raonic, Gasquet, Berdych, Zverev, Thiem, Isner, etc. chickening out is nothing unexpected, considering that these guys aren't exactly renowned for their mental fortitude on the court.
Click to expand...
:unsure:
 
C

ChrisRF

Legend
weakera said:
Djoko is desperate for gold but ironically doesn't even live in Serbia.
Click to expand...
What do both things have do to with each other?

There are very few things in life I would more like to have than an Olympic Gold Medal. But I would give a big d a m n about what I would be "representing" there.

Being Olympic champion in a singles discipline means you are the greatest in your sport then (okay, maybe not in tennis, but you get what I want to say). Why all the talk about country etc.? It’s the biggest INTERNATIONAL sports competition of them all, a peaceful meeting of the whole world. Country matters only in team sports.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
ChrisRF said:
What do both things have do to with each other?

There are very few things in life I would more like to have than an Olympic Gold Medal. But I would give a big d a m n about what I would be "representing" there.

Being Olympic champion in a singles discipline means you are the greatest in your sport then (okay, maybe not in tennis, but you get what I want to say). Why all the talk about country etc.? It’s the biggest INTERNATIONAL sports competition of them all, a peaceful meeting of the whole world. Country matters only in team sports.
Click to expand...

Ideally that should no doubt be the case but at the opening ceremony each athlete enters the Olympic stadium in the company of other athletes from his country preceded by that country's flag. The number of medals awarded are assigned to the winner's country as well as the winner individually. When medal-winning athletes step onto the podium to receive their medals their country's flag is raised above them and the national anthem of the gold medallist is played out load. During the Games international commentators pore over the medal table to see how each country is faring. It has always been an international competition between nations as well as individuals (at least in its modern format). The athlete is seen as representing his or her country and not just themselves.
 
C

ChrisRF

Legend
Mainad said:
Ideally that should no doubt be the case but at the opening ceremony each athlete enters the Olympic stadium in the company of other athletes from his country preceded by that country's flag. The number of medals awarded are assigned to the winner's country as well as the winner individually. When medal-winning athletes step onto the podium to receive their medals their country's flag is raised above them and the national anthem of the gold medallist is played out load. During the Games international commentators pore over the medal table to see how each country is faring. It has always been an international competition between nations as well as individuals (at least in its modern format). The athlete is seen as representing his or her country and not just themselves.
Click to expand...
But at the closing ceremony they all march into the stadium mixed together. This should express something like “We came seperated, but became friends and leave together”. Of course it’s a symbol and no reality. But then on the other hand a national flag is only a symbol as well.

And the medal table, of course it is shown sometimes, but is it really more than an inofficial gimmick? I think only a few individual athletes are interested in it, because they haven’t much influence in it anyway.

Commentators like to cheer for anyone from their country, but national sport in their countries is what gives them their jobs. It’s not different in European club football competitions as well. It’s mostly more acting than real feelings. A commentator can be a hater of a certain club from his country in real life but will cheer for it when on broadcast.
 
K

KG1965

Legend
DreddyTennis45 said:
Couldn't believe my eyes but apparently this guy is so shameless that he's going to skip the biggest sports event in the world to vulture another meaningless ATP250. He justified this decision by saying he loves his country which is flawed logic because he would be doing the same thing by representing Austria at the Olympic games which comes around every 4 years compared to a meaningless tournament in kitzbuhel which is played every year.

The supposed "Prince of clay" who has:
0 Roland Garros titles
0 Monte Carlo titles
0 Rome titles
0 Madrid titles
0 Hamburg titles

The guy lives off vulturing useless events like Buenos Aires and Kitzbuhel to rack up cheap points with extremely weak fields. Most shameless player I have ever seen
Click to expand...
Master 250 > Olympic Gold Tennis
Master 1000 >>>>>> Olympic Gold

Great Thiem. Number one.
 
K

KG1965

Legend
A player who wins 14 tournaments of which 1 Master 1000 can do whatever he wants.

Laver, Rosewall, Tilden, Budge, Kramer, Segura, Connors, Sampras, McEnroe and Borg are desperate for not having won Olympic gold.:-D:D:p
Lendl cries every day.:cry:
Rosewall would trade olympic gold for the Bournemouth 1968 victory. Ahahahahah
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
KG1965 said:
A player who wins 14 tournaments of which 1 Master 1000 can do whatever he wants.

Laver, Rosewall, Tilden, Budge, Kramer, Segura, Connors, Sampras, McEnroe and Borg are desperate for not having won Olympic gold.:-D:D:p
Lendl cries every day.:cry:
Rosewall would trade olympic gold for the Bournemouth 1968 victory. Ahahahahah
Click to expand...

Yeah well, at least 7 of those players you listed did not have any opportunity to play an Olympics (given there was no Olympic tennis in their time) whilst in other cases it only re-appeared at the end of their careers. Sampras is the only one who could have played but chose not to (something he later said he regretted).
 
L

Le Master

Professional
Good for him. I enjoy an exhibition every now and then; but it's still an exhibition, and no one should be criticized for not putting in valuable time and effort into an exhibition.
 
Mainad

Mainad

Bionic Poster
Le Master said:
Good for him. I enjoy an exhibition every now and then; but it's still an exhibition, and no one should be criticized for not putting in valuable time and effort into an exhibition.
Click to expand...

Okay, so the Austrian Olympic Association is putting together its team for 2020 with the hope of getting as many medals as possible for Austria and approaches the country's no.1 tennis player to take part with the confident hope of getting a medal in the tennis event but instead gets the finger from him saying "Stuff you and Austria's Olympic hopes, I'm off playing Kitzbühel! I get more money that way!" :censored:

What a patriot Thiem is! :cautious:
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
DreddyTennis45 said:
Couldn't believe my eyes but apparently this guy is so shameless that he's going to skip the biggest sports event in the world to vulture another meaningless ATP250. He justified this decision by saying he loves his country which is flawed logic because he would be doing the same thing by representing Austria at the Olympic games which comes around every 4 years compared to a meaningless tournament in kitzbuhel which is played every year.

The supposed "Prince of clay" who has:
0 Roland Garros titles
0 Monte Carlo titles
0 Rome titles
0 Madrid titles
0 Hamburg titles

The guy lives off vulturing useless events like Buenos Aires and Kitzbuhel to rack up cheap points with extremely weak fields. Most shameless player I have ever seen
Click to expand...

Yeah regarding the second post, he might know something we don't. It might be fixed so better take on winning tournaments where it isn't fixed.
 
Cashman

Cashman

Hall of Fame
Lleytonstation said:
If so, that is bad contract management.
Click to expand...
Depends how much they were offering. Not everyone cares about the Olympics. If I was offered a few million to skip it, I'd certainly think about it.

Thiem will probably be in a better position to medal in 2024 anyway - unlikely he's going to beat any of the top guys on Tokyo hardcourt. Paris will almost certainly be on clay, and Djokovic and Nadal will hopefully be competing in wheelchair singles at the Paralympics by then.
 
Tshooter

Tshooter

G.O.A.T.
Mainad said:
Okay, so the Austrian Olympic Association is putting together its team for 2020 with the hope of getting as many medals as possible for Austria and approaches the country's no.1 tennis player to take part with the confident hope of getting a medal in the tennis event but instead gets the finger from him saying "Stuff you and Austria's Olympic hopes, I'm off playing Kitzbühel! I get more money that way!" :censored:

What a patriot Thiem is! :cautious:
Click to expand...

$6 billion Patriots. They should spread around some patriotism to the players.

www.businessinsider.com

Olympics, Inc: Inside The Secretive, $6 Billion World Of The International Olympic Committee

www.businessinsider.com www.businessinsider.com
 
Last edited:
L

Le Master

Professional
Mainad said:
Okay, so the Austrian Olympic Association is putting together its team for 2020 with the hope of getting as many medals as possible for Austria and approaches the country's no.1 tennis player to take part with the confident hope of getting a medal in the tennis event but instead gets the finger from him saying "Stuff you and Austria's Olympic hopes, I'm off playing Kitzbühel! I get more money that way!" :censored:

What a patriot Thiem is! :cautious:
Click to expand...
Who cares
 
Meles

Meles

Bionic Poster
DreddyTennis45 said:
Couldn't believe my eyes but apparently this guy is so shameless that he's going to skip the biggest sports event in the world to vulture another meaningless ATP250. He justified this decision by saying he loves his country which is flawed logic because he would be doing the same thing by representing Austria at the Olympic games which comes around every 4 years compared to a meaningless tournament in kitzbuhel which is played every year.

The supposed "Prince of clay" who has:
0 Roland Garros titles
0 Monte Carlo titles
0 Rome titles
0 Madrid titles
0 Hamburg titles

The guy lives off vulturing useless events like Buenos Aires and Kitzbuhel to rack up cheap points with extremely weak fields. Most shameless player I have ever seen
Click to expand...
I think he stated this 4 years ago.:unsure:
 
T

Tennis_Hands

Banned
No points, no substantial financial rewards, participation in a politically heavy event organised by the most corrupt organisation on the planet

vs

Points, substantial financial reward, and staying out of the whole circus.

Yes, how stupid a player can be to choose the second option?

:cool:
 
Bukmeikara

Bukmeikara

Legend
TimHenmanATG said:
The Olympic tennis tournament is increasingly becoming the "5th major".

Like you say, no-one remotely cares about the likes of Thiem's self-imposed "absence".
Click to expand...

You care! If you didnt, you wouldnt be insulting him.

Thiem has a choice and he makes with 100% clear intention. If anything, this deserves respect. Some people couldnt accept that someone has a different opinion than them.

And Olympics are very, very far from being the 5th Major.
 
Musterrific

Musterrific

Hall of Fame
Now that he's finally won on home soil, he has nothing to prove anymore and can skip this 250 in the future. Still needs to win Vienna Open though...
 
Musterrific

Musterrific

Hall of Fame
Bobby Jr said:
You can't have been around very long. Thomas Muster and, even longer before him, Jimmy Connors both did it to epic levels.
Click to expand...

I remember how annoyed both Sampras and Agassi were when Muster ascended to the number 1 ranking, bashing him in the press for accumulating the bulk of his points by playing (and winning) every dinky clay tournament under the sun filled with mugs below his caliber, while at the big events he would often get blown out by other top players.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top