US Open champion Dominic Thiem is in a legal dispute with his former coach and manager Günter Bresnik, who had sued him for 450,000 euros for a breach of contract.
The first court meeting took place at the Palace of Justice in Vienna on Friday afternoon, where Thiem and Bresnik agreed to an out-of-court solution, which will be led by a judicial mediator.
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The settlement talks are scheduled to take place in the last week of February 2021 without their respective lawyers.
Thiem fell-out with the 59-year-old Bresnik, who had been his coach since the current World No 3 was 15 years old. Bresnik was of the opinion that, according to his contract, he was entitled to a 30 per cent share of all of the financial deals Thiem would sign till the end of his career.
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This contract was changed in September 2016 and was limited in time – but without Thiem’s current manager Herwig Straka being aware of it.
Straka then negotiated a solution with Bresnik in May 2019 after the end of his professional relationship with Thiem, in which Bresnik was still granted a participation in the Austrian’s income.
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Thiem’s lawyer Manfred Ainedter however declared the contract null and void in February 2020 and dissolved it. He claimed that Thiem and Straka were “fraudulently deceived” by Bresnik.
“It’s about respecting a contract,” said Bresnik’s lawyer Korn at the court hearing on Friday, to which Dominic Thiem appeared accompanied by his younger brother Moritz.
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In the court, Bresnik addressed Thiem directly and asked him if he wanted to have a dialogue and sort it out. The parties are now heading to an out-of-court settlement.
