The Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem, champion of the US Open 2020, current number 15 in the world ranking and without competing since last June due to a right wrist injury, finally He will not play the Australian Open and is scheduled to reappear on the tour next February, on the brick dust of the ATP 250 in Córdoba.
A few days ago and after several preseason days in Dubai, the former world number 3 (in March 2020) returned to Austria instead of flying directly to Australia. “Unfortunately, I caught a cold (and tested negative for Covid-19) while in Dubai and was unable to practice. Therefore, I am not in the required physical condition to be able to play the ATP Cup and the ATP Sydney. After not competing for the last 6 months, I cannot take the risk of returning too soon and suffering a new injury ”, he had communicated. But in these hours he confirmed that he will not play the first Grand Slam of the year, since January 17.
“I came home to Austria to recover from the tough training sessions I had in Dubai and the slight setback in my preparation. I am now feeling fine again, my wrist is in optimal condition and I am practicing normally with very good intensity ”, he communicated today. He continued: “After the short vacation, my team and I have evaluated all the issues and decided to make some changes to my initial tournament schedule. I will start the season in South America at the Córdoba Open in Argentina, and therefore I will not play this year at the Australian Open in Melbourne, a city that I love and where I have great memories of unforgettable matches ahead. of astonishing crowds. I will miss the Australian fans, but I will be back in 2023. “
With this decision, the 28-year-old will lose the 1200 points of the 2020 Australian Open final (he fell to Serbian Novak Djokovic) and will fall in the ranking. It is projected that it will regress, approximately, to position 50.
Last April, the talented European one-handed backhand tennis player revealed that he was suffering from mental problems and that he did not know how to manage his emotions after having reached the goal he fought for as a child (winning a Grand Slam). “I fell into a hole”he confessed.
Thiem now plans not only to play in Córdoba (it will start on January 31), but also in the Buenos Aires tournament (February 7 to 13), in the ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro (February 14 to 20) and in the 250 from Santiago de Chile (February 21-27).
While he was champion on cement at Flushing Meadows, brick dust is the surface he’s most comfortable on. He is 74.1% effective and won ten titles, including the Buenos Aires ATP twice. He was also a finalist at Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019, of course.
Norwegian Casper Ruud, number 8 in the world ranking, will play the Argentina Open next February. The one in Buenos Aires was, in 2020, the first of the 6 ATP titles that the Oslo-born player won.
In the 2021 season Ruud reached his peak of performance, winning the tournaments in Geneva, Bastad, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and San Diego. In addition, he qualified for the Masters, which was played for the first time in Turin (he lost in the semifinals with Russian Daniil Medvedev).
The Argentina Open 2022 already has some confirmed names: in addition to Ruud and Thiem, Diego Schwartzman (the current champion), the Italian Lorenzo Sonego and the French Benoit Paire. The final list will be known on January 10 next. In addition, the organization will save until the last moment an invitation for Juan Martín del Potro, who aspires to return on the South American tour on brick dust after two and a half years of inactivity due to a right knee injury.
