"If intentional, it'd undermine the integrity" - Fans amused as Dominic Thiem earns points for Vienna exhibition with Alexander Zverev due to glitch

Dominic Thiem received 500 ranking points following an exhibition win over Alexander Zverev ahead of his final tournament in Vienna. While this may have occurred due to a possible glitch, it sparked amusing discussions among fans online. Many of them were delighted to see the Austrian in the Top 100 one final time.

Thiem is currently gearing up for his final campaign on his home soil in Vienna. Ahead of the tournament's kick-off, the Austrian played his rival and good friend Alexander Zverev in a one-set exhibition match in front of his home crowd.

Thiem won the exhibition 6-3 and the exhibition was followed by a fun night honoring the epic career of the 31-year-old. The night also featured Boris Becker, Frances Tiafoe, Matteo Berrettini, and many others.

A talking point among many fans came after the match as a possible glitch awarded 500 ranking points to Dominic Thiem, helping him enter the Top 100, at 87. A fan shared news of this on X (formerly Twitter).

Fans reacted hilariously to this seeming glitch. One fan opined that if the ATP had genuinely awarded points to the Austrian, it would be unfair.

"If that was intentional it would completely undermine the integrity of the rankings so guessing this is just a mistake."

Another fan joked about the ATP awarding its players for winning an exhibition while the WTA deducted points from their players. Iga Swiatek was penalized earlier this week for not playing in enough tournaments.

"WTA: you haven’t played 35 mandatory tournaments per season, hence we are taking your points!!!😡😡 ATP: you won one match at a farewell exho here is 500 points 💖💖 "

Meanwhile, the fan who had originally posted the change in Thiem's rankings points later found the player back at World No. 318.

"So, I just refreshed the page and Thiem is back to #315... Well, it was a lovely story while it lasted," the fan said.

Here are some other reactions from fans:

"lmfao 😹 atp and wta gifting and taking away points left and right," another fan added.

"If my last match was against zverev and i beat his ass I would be jumping for joy I WOULD NOT GAF IF IT WAS AN EXHO," a fan opined.

"This morning Zverev as well had something like 240 extra points, but now they're gone," another fan said.

---

Dominic Thiem to play Luciano Darderi in Vienna Open 2024 R1, in possible final match

Dominic Thiem (Source: Getty)

Dominic Thiem will play Luciano Darderi in the opening round of the 2024 Vienna Open, which could possibly turn out to be the final match of his career. This will be the first meeting between the two men and the winner of their match will play either Kei Nishikori or Jack Draper in the second round.

Thiem is a former champion in Vienna having won the ATP 500 event in 2019. He was ousted in the opening round by Stefanos Tsitsipas in the opening round last year.

Thiem was a force to be reckoned with during his prime years and went toe-to-toe with some of the greats of the game. He reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 and won the 2020 US Open, the 2019 Indian Wells Masters, and reached three other Grand Slam finals.

However, a wrist injury he suffered at the 2021 Mallorca Championships derailed his career, and he struggled to reach his former level again. Earlier this year, the Austrian announced that he would be hanging up his racket on his home soil in Vienna, via an emotional video.