Dominic Thiem looks to hold on to Australian Open main draw hopes, sits on the cusp of falling out of qualified players

With the 2024 Australian Open only a few weeks away, former finalist Dominic Thiem is on the verge of losing his automatic qualification bid based on his current ATP ranking.

The former World No.3 currently sits at World No.98 on the ATP Rankings, with 104 spots available to be awarded to players who don't have to compete in qualifiers. The 104 spots not only include players via world rankings and protected rankings, but also wildcards are handed out at the tournament's discretion.

Thiem could compete with Nadal, Kyrgios for automatic qualification

A handful of players are eligible to compete in Australia under their protected ranking; Nick Kyrgios, Rafael Nadal, Jiri Vesely, Soonwoo Kwon, Marin Cilic and Reilly Opelka. Nadal and Kyrgios could be handed a wildcard entry, thus freeing up space for Thiem to garner automatic qualification. However, Opelka, Kwon and Cilic have been out of action due to injury, so could possibly be granted entry to the first Grand Slam of the year under their protected rankings.

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Thiem received a wildcard entry to compete at the 2023 event, but fell to then-World No.5 Andrey Rublev in the first round. The Austrian has struggled to return to the form that saw him lift his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open, with his best result coming at his home event in Kitzbuhel, where he finished runner-up.

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