Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem said he will not be required to undergo surgery to treat a problem which has sidelined him from the Tour in recent months.
The world No.8 hasn’t played a match since the Mallrocja Open after injuring his right wrist. A medical examination later revealed that Thiem suffered a ‘detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist.’ The Austrian had hoped to return to the Tour earlier this year but was unable to after suffering a setback in his recovery.
Providing an update on his wrist, Thiem says he is heading in the right direction and will begin to strengthen his wrist next week following a consultation with doctors. He had previously said his goal is to be fully fit in time for the Australian Open which will get underway in January.
“I was in Belgium to decide if I need surgery on my wrist or not and luckily I have very, very good news. I won’t need the surgery,” he said on Twitter on Monday.
“It’s really stable and it’s looking good, my wrist. The next week I have to make it more flexible and strengthen my wrist, do everything to prepare to slowly start playing tennis again.
“I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a pretty long time without a racquet and I honestly miss it.”
This year has been a troublesome season for Thiem even before he suffered his wrist injury. On the Tour he won just nine out of 18 matches. Only once in seven tournaments played did he manage to reach the semi-finals, which was back in May at the Madrid Open. Thiem also lost in the first round of the French Open which was his worst ever result at the Grand Slam.
“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 told The Tennis Channel on August 30th.
‘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.’
So far in his career Thiem has won 17 titles on the ATP Tour and has earned more than $28.6M in prize money. He has been continuously ranked in the world’s top 10 since May 2016.
