A fixed place for Dominic Thiem in the main draw of the Australian Open 2024 is by no means guaranteed.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edited: November 19, 2023, 8:34 p.m
A fixed place at the Australian Open is far from guaranteed for Dominic Thiem
The 2023 season has already been over for Dominic Thiem for over a week, and the Lower Austrian is currently in position 95 in the ATP rankings. The direct qualification for the Australian Open may not be quite as close as in the previous season, where the The 2020 US Open champion was ultimately only able to avoid the arduous qualification thanks to a wildcard from the organizer, but it will still be a close call.
In the next two weeks, in addition to the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga and the Next Gen Finals in Jeddah, which are not really relevant for the targeted world ranking positions, a nice handful of ATP Challenger tournaments will take place. There are a total of seven events in which, of course, some players who are currently ranked 100th are fighting to make the possible cut for next year’s first Grand Slam tournament.
Rodionov could also displace Thiem
An example: In beautiful Montevideo, the Argentinian Facundo Diaz Acosta and the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro are currently in the final of a Challenger 100 tournament. If Acosta, currently in position 101, were to win the final, he would end up in 93rd place with 668 points, thus pushing the ÖTV star down another place. And Monteiro, who is currently in 117th position, would also improve to 108th place with a final success – and the 29-year-old would also have a chance of scoring further valuable points next week in his home country (100 event in Brasilia).
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An ambiguous situation could arise if Austria’s current number three, Jurij Rodionov, collects fine points at the two upcoming Challenger events in Yokohama and Yokkaichi. At best, 175 points could be bagged at the Japanese events. Currently ranked 107th in the world rankings. As of today, 63 points are missing from the former world number three from Lichtenwörth.
The cut-off for the singles main competitions at Grand Slam tournaments varies a little every year. If it is normally at number 104, various situations (e.g. players with protected rankings) can increase the necessary position. Last year, the cut-off for the Australian Open was ultimately 99th place. Of course, the organizer could pull out a wildcard for the 30-year-old again. Waiting and drinking tea is the order of the day.
2023-11-19 20:47:00
#ATP #Dominic #Thiem #Happy #Slam
