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Dominic Thiem's season went from bad to worse after he picked up a wrist injury at Mallorca, which forced him to withdraw from Wimbledon. The 27-year-old is facing a period of more than a month on the sidelines, after having already struggled with physical and mental issues for much of 2021.
Thiem is now on the verge of falling out of the top 5 of the ATP rankings, with the defense of his US Open title looking increasingly dicey. And while attending the Austrian Grand Prix last weekend, the Austrian opened up about his injury, claiming he needs to approach it with caution.
Thiem also pointed out that such wrist issues are normal for tennis players.
"This is of course a bit of a delicate injury. I have to make sure that I let it heal properly," Dominic Thiem said. "If I take care of (it) for five weeks and really do nothing, then that should be done."
"I'm far from the first (tennis player) to have this (injury)," Thiem added. "If you pay attention, there shouldn't be anything in the episode."
Elaborating further on the issue, Dominic Thiem claimed that he has a well-charted plan about how to go about the rehabilitation process. The 27-year-old asserted that his goal is to simply return to the tour in top shape.
"Because I have the splint and the injury is well-documented in tennis players, I was told exactly what I had to do. That made things easier," Thiem said. "It won't be easy to come back. My goal is simply to be in top shape after five weeks and then to be able to start tennis again easily. (That) I can play tennis so well that I can come back."
In the last few years I've been very lucky, had a lot of unbelievable matches and tournaments: Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem refused to blame the pandemic or the associated restrictions for his struggles over the last few months. The 27-year-old claimed that he may have gotten unlucky this year, but has been fortunate with a lot of things in the past.
"I can't really agree with that," the Austrian replied when asked whether his struggles are related to the pandemic. "Of course, the results were really bad for me and a lot of things didn't fit. But in the last few years I've also been very lucky, had a lot of unbelievable matches and tournaments."
"Luckily it took me a long time to get the first rough one (injury) anyway," he added.
Dominic Thiem has been consulting Spanish specialist Angel Ruiz Cotorro (who has worked closely with Rafael Nadal in the past), for which he has to keep visiting Barcelona. The Austrian claimed that when he gets some time away from the medical trips, he would like to enjoy the simpler things in life - like attending motorsport races in his home country.
"I always have to fly to Barcelona, just subordinate everything to the rehabilitation," Dominic Thiem said. "But maybe next week I can come back to watch Formula 1 and then do everything for the comeback."
