The wrist is fine, Thiem assured, he also did a few photo shoots and good training sessions in Indian Wells, but the European sand, it should be for the return.

Thiem ex-coach Thomas Muster has proven to be a seer when it comes to the delays. At the end of last year, he had already considered Thiem's appearance in Australia unlikely and believed that he would not return to the top 20 until 2023.

Pattern for Thiem return: "There is no point in time that feels good"

"Unfortunately, I wasn't entirely wrong," said Muster to oe24 .

There are "certain regularities," said the French Open champ from 1995. "If you're injured for a long time, then everything hurts because of the intensive training that is necessary to come back. That's annoying, but it it's so."

After a long injury, there is "no time that feels good," said Muster. "It wasn't easy for me back then, limping to play against Ivan Lendl in Vienna." Muster was referring to his accident in Key Biscayne , where a drunk driver had hit him, his knee was gone and after six months Muster dared his comeback in a show fight against Lendl.

Thiem injured his wrist at the tournament in Mallorca in the summer of 2021 and then got back into training too quickly. He had to cancel a comeback at an invitation tournament in December, as well as the trip to Australia. A return to Santiago de Chile was then planned, but Thiem canceled there again due to another hand injury.

When exactly he returns: it remains to be seen.