The granular court at the Hotel Eichingerbauer near Thalgau, last Monday. Here Tim returns to the arena. Shyly hits two softballs over the net. “Just like in the old days,” the tennis star explains, laughing. “I was thrilled to be able to hit the ball again.”

After the recent setback, he doesn’t want to overuse his wrist fit now. Tim: “After what happened, I still had a blockage in my head. I have to start very slowly.”

Not yet vaccinated, relapse in the rankings

There are still three months left until the next big target, the Australian Open (from January 17th). But there are still question marks ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament.

Problem number 1: Tim, as he admitted at the press conference in Mondsee, “has not yet been vaccinated.” He wants to wait for the new dead vaccine from Novavax. However, Australians are asking all tennis pros to be vaccinated twice by November 26. That’s why Tim will be immunized with another vaccine in November.

the following problem: Imminent relapse in the rankings. Tim (currently No. 8 in the ATP) wants to return to the match court at an exhibition in Abu Dhabi in December. With that he will lose his protected standings and could fall out of the top 30. Tim on his return: “Overall, I’m on a positive path. However, it is one hundred percent certain that I will struggle in Australia. Tennis is very complicated, it takes a long time to get back into the rhythm of the match. “.

Novavax’s inactivated vaccine can do this

Why is Dominic Thiem waiting for the Novavax vaccine that is about to be approved? “Because I heard from my doctor that he must be really good,” said the tennis star.
This is the so-called “dead vaccine”. This reassures vaccine skeptics who oppose RNA vaccines like Biontech/Pfizer: a dead vaccine is a virus or pathogen that is no longer active against which antibodies are formed. It is hoped that the US manufacturer Novavax will be 90% effective.