Vienna, December 28 (EFE). Austrian Dominic Thiem, who has not played for more than six months due to a right wrist injury, confirmed this Tuesday that he will not take part in the Australian Open, the first major tournament of the season, while planning to join the fields only in January, in Cordoba (Argentina). ).
“I will start the tournament in South America, at the Cordoba Open at the end of January, and therefore this year I will not play at the Australian Open in Melbourne,” the 28-year-old wrote in a message posted on social media. .
“I feel good again, my wrist is in top shape and I’m training normally at a very good intensity,” he confirmed.
Despite the improvement, and with the goal of “getting a good comeback in competitive tennis”, he and his team decided, to continue spending more time to prepare well.
The 15th-ranked player in the ATP rankings, which she has fallen from third due to inactivity in recent months, said the player.
In line with that decision he described as “correct”, Tim has adjusted his tournament schedule: after Córdoba on January 31, he will compete in Buenos Aires on February 7, in Rio de Janeiro (February 14) and, for the first time, in Santiago de Chile (February 21 ).
With this programme, he will put an end to the more than six-month break he had to endure after sustaining a wrist injury at the grass tournament in Mallorca on June 22, his last.
After his initially planned comeback at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition was called off because he didn’t feel ready to compete at the highest level, he also skipped the ATP Cup and Sydney.
The cancellation of the trip to Australia will have a new and very significant impact on the standings of the 2020 US Open winner, who this year had his best record in the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, where he was lost to Alexander Zverev.
He is expected to lose 1,200 points from the 2020 Australian Open final and another 65 from the ATP Cup, which will drop to 50th place, and that’s not counting the possibility that other players will move him further to move up the rankings.
However, in his letter today Tim is optimistic.
“Melbourne is a city I love and I have great memories and unforgettable matches. I will miss the Australian fans, but I will be back for 2023,” he promised.
(c) EFE . Agency
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