Austria’s Dominic Thiem reacts with a thumbs up as he plays against Spain’s Rafael Nadal during their men’s singles final match, on day fifteen of The Roland Garros 2019 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on June 9, 2019. (Photo by Thomas SAMSON / AFP)
Austrian tennis ace Dominic Thiem on Tuesday offered Serena Williams a mixed doubles jaunt in an attempt to put their French Open press room dispute behind them.
Thiem reacted with disbelief when officials asked him, mid-post match interview, to leave the main interview room at Roland Garros so that the American superstar, who had just been knocked out, would not be kept waiting.
He accused the 23-time Grand Slam winner, who had just suffered her earliest exit at a major tournament in almost five years, of having a “bad personality” and said he would have waited even for a junior player to finish.
But on Tuesday Thiem was more conciliatory, saying he’d already forgotten about the incident before half-heartedly suggesting a match-up.
“As a way of putting it behind us, I could play mixed doubles with Serena at Wimbledon or New York,” he said.
Thiem was beaten by Nadal in straight sets in last year’s French Open final, but pushed his illustrious Spanish opponent all the way in the first two sets this year before running out of steam and losing 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.