"Something you shouldn't say in general just out of respect": Thiem's measured response to Bublik 'I'm sick of giving careers back to disabled people' comment

Austria’s tennis star Dominic Thiem gave a cautious response to alleged comments made by Alexander Bublik.

Kazakhstan’s tennis suffered a defeat in the first round of the US Open to the 29-year-old in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 on Monday.

After the match, it was reported that the 26-year-old allegedly passed a scathing remark about his first-round opponent where he said: “I'm sick of giving careers back to disabled people.”

Thiem was asked about it during his talk with the media after the match, but he responded cautiously.

“I don’t know if the translation is right, you know,” he said. “If it is, then it’s a tough saying. Something you shouldn’t say in general just out of respect. But maybe he didn’t mean it that way or whatever. But what can I say about it.”

The victory was important for Thiem as this was his first in the Grand Slam since the 2021 Australian Open.

Since then, the Wiener Neustadt-born suffered six consecutive exits from the first round of the major events, mainly because of fitness concerns as he could not recover from multiple injuries and played those tournaments half-fit.

Thiem will now face America’s Ben Shelton in Wednesday's second-round clash of the US Open.