Thiem surprisingly given "only" qualifying wild-card at Paris Masters
ATP
Dominic Thiem was surprisingly given only a qualifying wild card for the 2022 Paris Masters. He reached the semi-finals at the event in 2018.
Thiem has been fighting his way up the ATP Rankings after missing a lot of time away from the court. Despite struggling early on in his comeback, the Austrian player has been quite successful lately.
He reached the semi-finals of the Gijon Open as well as the European Open in Antwerp. Also, thanks to those results, the 2020 US Open champion is currently ranked 113th in the ATP Rankings.
However, that doesn't grant him a direct entry into the main draw of the 2022 Paris Masters. Moreover, he wouldn't be able to enter the qualifying, either, so Thiem had to rely on the organizers giving him a wild card.
That happened but probably not in a way that the Austrian expected. Only French players were given main draw wild cards. Richard Gasquet, Adrian Mannarino, Arthur Rinderknech, and Gilles Simon will all compete in the main draw of the 2022 Paris Masters after receiving a wild card for the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in the French capital.
However, Thiem received "only" a wild card for the qualifying tournament, where he will be joined by another three Frenchmen, Hugo Gaston, Quentin Halys, and Ugo Humbert.
Despite the surprising decision to award the former World No. 3 player and Grand Slam champion only a qualifying wild card, French tennis is currently going through a difficult period when no Frenchman is in the Top 40 of the ATP Rankings for the first time since 1997.
Therefore, the decision of tournament organizers can be quite logical as they may be trying to change this by giving their players a chance. It also seems that Thiem is back on track and will have no problem with fighting in the qualifying.
