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Dominic Thiem's slew of poor performances at the start of the season, followed by a long absence from the tour due to injury, has cost him his spot in the top 10 of the ATP singles rankings.
Thiem had featured in the top 10 consecutively for 282 weeks, starting from 6 June 2016. But the recent good showings by Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Hubert Hurkacz have caused the Austrian to drop three spots to No. 12.
Dominic Thiem's progress through the ATP echelons was steady until last year. The 28-year-old posted a career-best season in 2019, winning five ATP titles and registering two runner-up finishes. He sealed a career-highest third position in the ATP rankings soon after, which was followed by his first Grand Slam victory at the 2020 US Open.
But the 2021 season saw Thiem get off to a slow start, to say the least. The Austrian suffered early losses at the ATP Cup, Qatar and Dubai, in addition to an unsuccessful campaign at the Australian Open - where he faced a fourth-round defeat to Grigor Dimitrov.
Dominic Thiem decided to take a break after Dubai to nurse a knee injury, only returning to the tour at the Madrid Open in May. He faced a straight-sets loss to Alexander Zverev in the semifinals in the Spanish capital, which was followed by a third-round defeat at Rome and first-round losses at Lyon and Roland Garros.
Thiem then suffered a right wrist injury at the Mallorca Championships in June, which led to him pulling out of competition for the rest of the season. The 28-year-old hasn't been able to defend his ranking points from the tournaments over the last few months, most notably the US Open and the Indian Wells Masters.
Dominic Thiem foregoes attending Vienna Open, posts a picture from Barcelona
Dominic Thiem missed out on watching his counterparts compete at the Vienna Open, presumably because vaccination was a mandatory requirement to be present in the stands. But the Austrian seems to be enjoying his time away from the tennis courts.
Thiem recently posted a picture from Barcelona on his Instagram stories, which was followed by a few shots of him at a commercial shoot for Adidas.
It is no secret that Dominic Thiem is a diehard One Direction fan, so it wasn't surprising to see the 28-year-old accompanying his Barcelona picture with a song from the band. Incidentally, One Direction were ranked No. 1 on Thiem's Spotify Wrapped list of top artists/bands from 2020.
In a recent interview with GQ Magazine, Dominic Thiem revealed that Adidas was his favorite brand long before he started partnering with them. The Austrian also emphasized how special it was for him to land the sponsorship gig with the sporting apparel giant.
"When it came up back then, in 2010, that a partnership (with Adidas) might develop, I actually only hoped for weeks that something would come of it," Thiem said. "For me, a dream really came true when it worked out."
During the recent shoot Dominic Thiem was also seen getting out of his comfort zone, doing an impression of popular TikToker Khaby Lame. Sharing the video of his attempt on his stories, Thiem said: "...working on my @khaby00 imitation", implying that he hadn't nailed it yet.
