Dominic Thiem determined to remain positive after return from 'severe' wrist injury
- Planet Sport writer
- 6 April 2022
Austrian star hoping to kickstart career as ATP Tour rolls onto his favoured clay surface.
Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem says he was never worried his persistent wrist injury would force him to retire.
Thiem has recently made his comeback after nearly ten months out of tennis, losing in the first round of a Challenger event in Marbella.
The injury has cost him plenty of ranking places, with him dropping from the top five to 50th in the world, and he knows he is still facing a long road back to his best.
However, with his favoured clay season now here, Thiem is feeling in a much more optimistic mood and he is confident his injury problems are now firmly behind him.
When asked by ORF Sport if he had feared the injury would threaten his career, Thiem said: "Absolutely not.
"The injury is severe and really hard, but on the other hand it is very well researched in the tennis world because it happens so often.
"Therefore, even when it happened the second time, the doctor immediately said that it will take a long time, it's a very unpleasant injury.
"But every player he has had so far, [including] a lot of [ATP and WTA] number ones, have come back without any subsequent damage.
"From then on I was very positive that it will be the same for me."
Thiem won his maiden major at the 2020 US Open but has not fared well since.
He admitted to motivation problems after achieving a life long ambition to become a Grand Slam champion, and he suffered from a foot complaint before his wrist broke down.
