12 months ago Dominic Thiem started the journey to the biggest title of his entire career at Flushing Meadows in New York.
During a season that was paused for weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Austrian came into a fanless US Open as one of the key players chasing after Novak Djokovic. Who was defaulted in the fourth round after accidentally hitting a linesperson with a ball. Thiem worked his way to the final where he took on Alexander Zverev. It looked as if his Grand Slam chances were over after he went down two sets. Then a dramatic turnaround saw him become the first player to fight back from that deficit in a US Open title match to claim the trophy.
“It was the first big tournament after (the Tour) lockdown and for a lot of players, it was a big change. It was the first tournament in a bubble so there was a huge difference but I got used to it pretty fast, thank god,” Thiem told the Tennis Channel on Monday.
“The final was just crazy. I gave all my energy in this match and saw it as a chance of my lifetime. Luckily I used it at the end.”
Unfortunately, the Austrian doesn’t have the opportunity to defend his title in 2021 after suffering a serious wrist injury during the Mallorca Open in June. Hearing what he described as a ‘crack’ during one of his matches, a medical evaluation later confirmed he had suffered a ‘detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist.’
Initially sidelined from both Wimbledon and the Olympics, there was hope that Thiem would still be able to play in New York. However, a recurrence of pain in his wrist put those plans to an end with him once again limited to how much training he can do.
“For the US Open, I still had a little bit of hope. Especially as the defending champion with a full crowd again this year I badly wanted to come back. But I simply couldn’t make it and I’m here (at home) watching it from far away. There is nothing I can do about it.” He said.
Thiem says he is wearing another splint on his wrist and will continue to do so for around four weeks. Then he will speak with his medical team about how his injury is healing before deciding his next move concerning rehabilitation.
The setback has brought an end to what has been a troublesome season on the Tour for the 27-year-old who could only win nine out of 18 matches played. Furthermore, he has reached the semi-final stage in one out of seven tournaments and lost in the first round of the French Open for the first time in his career. To the surprise of nobody, he admits this year is ‘one to forget.’
“I was far away from playing my best tennis. Australia was still fine playing-wise and then I had some troubles with all the (tournament) bubbles. Then the last season was really hard physically and mentally. I felt low energy and was not in my best shape,” Thiem explained.
‘I took some time off after Australia, didn’t practice for a while and this got to me during the clay season.
‘After that, I started to play well again and the motivation was there one hundred per cent. Then at that moment, the injury happened. It’s a year to forget and now it’s time to rest, be pumped and work hard for 2022.’
As it currently stands Thiem’s hope is that he will be back to full fitness in time for the Australian Open which will get underway in January. Although that depends on his troublesome wrist, which has already ruled him out of two Grand Slam tournaments.
