Dominic Thiem: Next bad news in the disaster season
It just doesn't want to work for Dominic Thiem . After Austria's number one got off to an extremely mixed start to the season, the hoped-for turnaround was not achieved in Mallorca. But on the contrary.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Jun 25, 2021, 02:06 pm
In the meantime, things had looked quite good for the reigning US Open champion in the Balearic Islands. The world number five started against his favorite opponent Adrian Mannarino with a break in the middle of the first set in his opening match at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca, which for the 27-year-old was primarily about finding the touch on the otherwise unloved grass surface.
The first gallop against the French Mannarino, it should come to an abrupt end a few moments after the break: Thiem signaled a pain in his wrist, received treatment - and had to announce fairly soon that he would not be able to play this match to the end. Two days later, on Thursday, the bad news: The injury is more serious than initially assumed, the Austrian now has a five-week break from competition.
After the drama against Kyrgios things went downhill
The season had actually started well for Thiem, who had declared before the Australian Open that only winning a title would be important for him in tournaments in this category. Against the local hero Nick Kyrgios, Thiem managed the turnaround after a 2-0 set deficit in front of a furious audience - from then on it should go downhill for the fifth in the world rankings.
Against Grigor Dimitrov, the last 16 opponent in Down Under, Thiem caught a pitch-black day, went down without a sound in three sentences. And then took a break. Because of mental problems and a lack of motivation, as the 27-year-old was to explain weeks later. This was also reflected in the physical constitution of the Lower Austrian, who never really reached his peak performance on the two desert adventures in Doha and Dubai.
Hope for the US Open
This is how the Austrian's great love, the clay court season with the highlight in Roland Garros, should set it up. That turned out to be a little bit too. After a strong performance in Madrid, where the Lichtenwörther played his way into the semi-finals, there was always a few percent lack of power in the strokes to be able to pull off his usual powerful tennis. The bitter consequence: A first round at the big season highlight in Roland Garros.
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And so we are at the last chapter of the bitter seasonal story of Dominic Thiem - the wrist injury in the Balearic Islands. A reason to bury your head in the sand? Not for Dominic Thiem. In an initial reaction, the Austrian was ready to work hard on his return. Which probably has one big goal above all: successfully defending the title at the US Open in Flushing Meadows.