French Open 2018: Dominic Thiem blasts Austrian military service

Dominic Thiem. Pic/AFP

Dominic Thiem on Friday described being forced to complete national service with the Austrian military as "a pain in the a'''". Thiem was called up at the end of 2014 when he was 21 under Austrian law which requires all men to serve six months in the forces. Due to his position as a professional sportsman, he was allowed to complete just four weeks. "I'm not a big fan of the military service. It was a pain in the a''' these three, four weeks, seriously," said Thiem.

"I was privileged on this one because I'm an athlete. I only had to do four weeks, and the others have to stay six months there. But still it was not helpful for my start of the next tennis season. In general, I didn't like it."

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