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Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem officially entered the Australian Open 2024 main draw after Reilly Opelka decided to pull out of the tournament on Saturday, January 6th. Thiem is another big name to find himself in the main draw after Emma Raducanu. The news was confirmed by the organisers of the tournament.
It is to be further noted that Thiem lost to Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Brisbane International on Tuesday, 2nd January. However, he will now skip the qualifier to play the first round of the AO 2024, which will kickstart on January 14. “Reilly Opelka (USA) has withdrawn from the Australian Open, moving Dominic Thiem (AUT) into the main draw,” the official handle of the tournament wrote.
Speaking of Opelka, the American however made a low key return at the Challenger at the end of the season but has been suffering from injuries to his hip and wrist off late.
However, the Austrian player is currently ranked 98th in the ATP Tour ranking and was thus drafted in the qualifier of the first Grand Slam of the year. The 30-year-old, who will play his first Grand Slam after being sidelined following a wrist injury, has mainly struggled with injuries.
The 30-year-old broke the Grand Slam stranglehold of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic by winning the 2020 U.S. Open. He also reached the 2020 Australian Open final but lost to no 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
