The Austrian has not been the same player since he went down with a wrist injury in the summer of 2021.
By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday March 27, 2024
Three years after initially having his career curtailed, Dominic Thiem’s wrist struggles continue, but the 30-year-old former World No.3 isn’t giving up.
Thiem took to Instagram to inform the world that he has had another setback in his wrist, due to a ramp-up in practice sessions earlier this season, as he continues the search for the form that took him to the top of the game several years ago.
“I wanted to give you all a message, as there were many rumors in the last days,” the current World No.90 said. “And I want to make it through my own social media because I want to make sure that you all get to know the truth.”
Thiem, 4-4 across all levels this year, recently played three challenger-level events in March, and won just one match. He said he has been working through some issues related to the wrist that took him off the court for nine months from June of 2021 to March of 2022.
Thiem revealed that he has been working with his father, Wolfgang, as he searches to regain the magic that made him a US Open champion in 2020 and a player that many ticketed as a future Roland-Garros champion.
“As you all know, I started to practice again with my dad after the Australian Open to get back to the practice which made me really good. And so we started to practice like I did when I was younger with a lot of intensity,” Thiem said.
“A lot of strokes. A lot of hours on the court. Unfortunately, a little bit before the challenger in Hungary the first tournament back for me, my wrist started to make some issues again, I started to have those clicks again, which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago, and also this strange feeling came back and it turned into pain in the last weeks and there is a minor inflammation there.”
Thiem explained that the wrist is the reason he pulled out of the Napoli Challenger last week, and added that he hopes to return, after moderating his practice schedule to give the wrist a chance to heal, in April.
He says he plans to return to the tour at the Estoril Open, which takes place from April 1 to April 7.
“That’s why I also pulled out of the Napoli (Italy) challenger last week,” he said. “Right now the situation is that I turned down the volume a bit and I’m practicing a little bit less, also a little bit shorter. Because their chances are good that I can make it to Estoril, that I can play there. That’s the plan as well. I want to start playing there again.”
