World No.3 Dominic Thiem has replied to Ines Ibbou’s letter and clarified his statements which had sparked controversy in the tennis community. He feels that it is unfair to criticize him as no one has read his entire interview and misinterpreted his statements.

Earlier, Thiem refused to contribute to the Player Relief Fund planned by Novak Djokovic and the seven governing bodies of tennis. He explained that none of the players are starving and many of the lower-level players are even unprofessional. Hence, he preferred choosing who he helps for himself.

Consequently, Thiem faced a lot of criticism from all around the world for his statements on the players in the lower-echelons. Subsequently, World No.620, Ines Ibbou, posted an open letter addressing Thiem. She asked the Austrian to show some respect for the sacrifices made by players like her.

“I didn’t watch the whole video” – Dominic Thiem

Ibbou received widespread support from tennis fraternity including from Nick Kyrgios and Venus Williams. However, Thiem has now come out to defend his statements, responding to Ibbou’s letter.

“I didn’t watch the whole video but I did see what she said. The thing is, no one has read the entire interview I gave. All the newspapers and magazines had headlines about it, which was unfair. If people had read everything, it wouldn’ have taken on these proportions. It’s the first thing,” said Thiem in an interview with L’Equipe.

“Many players deserve to be supported, no doubt. But I want to choose who I help myself. I don’t want to be forced to give money to anyone,” he added.

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Thiem was undeniably right in the particular context that there’s never going to be a guarantee of success, or even survival, in any career path. However, tennis’ governing bodies should use this time to decide upon the revenue sharing or prize-money redistribution in the sport. It could certainly be better than it is now.