By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday June 17, 2021
Dominic Thiem will not play the Olympics at Tokyo in 2021.
The Austrian took to social media on Thursday to explain that he prefers to focus his energy on working to prepare for Grand Slams at Wimbledon and the US Open.
“These last two weeks I have been training hard - and I’m starting to improve my conditioning and concentration little by little,” Thiem wrote. “My goal is to work hard the coming weeks, give my best at Wimbledon and keep training and hopefully defend my US Open title.”
Thiem has never played the Olympics. In 2016 he skipped the Rio Games and was the highest-ranked ATP player that skipped for reasons other than injury.
Theim has had a rough season, going just 9-8 and being knocked out of the first round at Roland-Garros for the first time in his career.
He says he plans to play the Olympics in 2024 at Paris.
“For me, like all athletes, taking part in the Olympics and representing my country is a huge honour and that makes this decision even tougher. However, 2021 did not start as expected and I don’t feel ready to play my best in Tokyo,” he said
Thiem Not the Only One to Give Bad News on Thursday
Thursday was a tough day for tennis that saw Rafael Nadal with draw from Wimbledon and the Olympics in order to rest and recuperate from the clay court season.
Naomi Osaka later announced that she would be skipping Wimbledon, but playing the Olympics. .