'Never going to change my opinion' - Dominic Thiem reiterates controversial stance on player relief fund

A few months ago, Dominic Thiem kicked up a storm after he refused to contribute to the player relief fund set up by tennis' governing bodies. Thiem's lack of support for the initiative, whose objective is to support the players financially affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, earned him plenty of criticism from the media as well as the fans.

But none of that seems to have affected the Austrian's mindset. After the completion of a packed and successful schedule of exhibition tournaments, Thiem appeared in an interview with CNN, where he reiterated the sentiment he had expressed in March.

There are players who don't deserve my support: Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem at the 2019 NItto ATP Finals

The World No. 3 added some caveats to his earlier statement, but reinforced its basic essence. Dominic Thiem said that while he doesn't wish to contribute to a common relief fund, he does support lower-ranked and junior players.

Thiem emphasized once again that he simply wants to reserve the right to choose whom he supports.

"What I said is that there are guys on the future tour who are not living professionally," the 26-year-old said. "That's what I said. And there are guys who don't deserve the support and I'm never going to change my opinion."

Thiem further went on to elaborate his thought process regarding the subject, and claimed that the media had misunderstood him.

"There are many, many guys who deserve it and that's my opinion. But, well, the media back then put it wrong and I hope that I can put it a little bit in the right place now."

During the interview, Dominic Thiem also defended Novak Djokovic in light of the criticism that the Serb is receiving for the Adria Tour controversy.

"It was unfair to him because he didn't break any law and he didn't force us."Dominic Thiem defends Novak Djokovic after the controversial Adria Tour and says he's looking forward to playing at this year's US Open. 👉 https://t.co/i1KwgZychU pic.twitter.com/jerT6Op85m

— CNN Sport (@cnnsport) July 21, 2020

Incidentally, the suggestion to start a common relief fund was put up by Djokovic in his capacity as the ATP Player Council president. At the time, as quoted by CNN itself, the Austrian had expressed his unwillingness to contribute to the fund in rather crude terms:

"No tennis player is fighting to survive, even those who are much lower-ranked. None of them are going to starve. There are many, many players who don't put the sport above everything else and don't live in a professional manner."

Dominic Thiem had also claimed that his donations would be put to better use if they were sent elsewhere in society.

"I don't really see why I should give such players money. I'd rather give money to people or organizations that really need it. None of us top players got anything handed to us, we all had to fight our way up. I don't have the guarantee in any job that I will do well and earn lots of money," the Austrian had asserted back then.