MUMBAI — Austrian Dominic Thiem has joined world number one Novak Djokovic in pulling out of this week’s Paris Masters after struggling with blisters in his foot during the Vienna Open.
US Open champion Thiem complained of the problem after his title defense in Vienna ended in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Thiem would have had little time to recover as the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year starts on Monday.
He is expected to use the break to get some rest before traveling to London for the season-ending ATP Finals, which takes place from Nov. 15-22.
Defending champion Djokovic opted out of the Paris tournament as he will not lose any ranking points under the ATP Tour’s revised system this year due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Rafael Nadal will be the top seed at the Paris Masters while Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas will be seeded second with seven of the top 10 men’s player attending the tournament.
Nadal, who won his record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title at Roland Garros in October, will return to Paris seeking to equal Djokovic’s record haul of 36 ATP Masters 1000 titles.
The Spaniard has a first-round bye and will open his Paris campaign against Filip Krajinovic or Feliciano Lopez in the second round.
Russia’s Andrey Rublev and Argentine Diego Schwartzman will also hope to seal the remaining two spots in the ATP Finals, which is played between the top eight men’s single players, with strong results in Paris.
HALEP TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID-19
Meanwhile, world number two Simona Halep tested positive for the novel coronavirus and is recovering well from her mild symptoms.
“Hi everyone, I wanted to let you know that I tested positive for COVID-19,” the 29-year-old Romanian said on Twitter on Saturday. “I am self-isolating at home and am recovering well from mild symptoms.
“I feel good… we will get through this together.”
The former world number one did not travel to New York for this year’s US Open Grand Slam due to health concerns over the pandemic.
Halep, who won the French Open in 2018 and is the reigning Wimbledon champion, made the trip to Paris for the claycourt Grand Slam but went down to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in the fourth round at Roland Garros last month.
The Women’s WTA Tour has a tournament scheduled in Austria from Nov. 9 but Halep had said her 2020 season was over following her French Open defeat. – Reuters
