Austria’s Dominic Thiem says he is in a ‘better place than before’ because he has clarity about what the coming weeks will look like for him.
The world No.6 has been forced to end his season early due to a wrist injury which he sustained during the Mallorca Open in Spain leading up to the Wimbledon Championships. Thiem had initially hoped to be fit in time to return to competitive tennis in the autumn but those plans were dashed after he started to feel pain in his wrist once again during training. In a statement, the Austrian says he and his team have agreed to take a ‘conservative’ approach regarding his recovery.
At present, the treatment for Thiem is to rest and recover. However, he admits that there remains a chance that surgery will be needed should the pain continue. Comparing his injury to similar ones which has been experienced by Rafael Nadal in 2016, Kei Nishikori and Belinda Bencic.
“If things don’t go as planned, the chance is already there, but it wouldn’t be a mishap either,” Thiem replied when asked if surgery was a possibility. “It would simply increase the time until I can be back on the court. If it fits, (playing) Australia is definitely an issue.’
“If it really comes to the surgery, it will take a month or two longer. But it would be an operation that many players have already done and it is not a bad thing in terms of the future.”
Prior to his wrist problems, 2021 has been a troublesome season for the 27-year-old. He has only managed to reach the semi-final in one out of seven tournaments played this year. At the French Open, he was knocked out in the first round for the first time in his career.
Nevertheless, Thiem believes there could be a silver lining to his injury setback occurring during what he describes as the midpoint of his career. His hope is that extra time off will help him reset for the future.
“I see it a bit as halfway through my career: the last six years have been unbelievable, better than I ever dreamed of. Now a bad year, and I hope that there will be six or seven good years to come,” he explains.
Besides not being able to defend his title at the US Open, Thiem is also disappointed he will not be able to play in the Davis Cup which will partly take place in Vienna. This year’s Davis Cup finals has been spread across three countries with the trophy match being played in Madrid.
“The Davis Cup hurts the most, it is perhaps the only time such a great home (tie) for the Davis Cup. Of course, Vienna is bitter, but I will definitely play (the Davis Cup) a few more times. But how often such a home Davis Cup will be against Serbia and Germany – maybe never again.” He said.
Thiem has won 17 ATP titles and earned more than $28.6M in prize money so far in his career.
