Dominic Thiem withdraws from Australian Open due to injury

Australian Open
Dominic Thiem disappointed

Austrian Dominic Thiem is the latest player to withdraw from the season-opening Grand Slam due to a wrist injury which has been plaguing him since it forced him to pull out of the Mallorca Open in June.

The former world No 3 managed to make it all the way to the finals at Melbourne Park in 2020 but now he’ll have to wait until 2023 to have a chance at getting that far again.

Thiem missed a massive chunk of the 2021 season – after sustaining his injury he had to withdraw from Wimbledon and the US Open, meaning he couldn’t defend his title from the previous year at Flushing Meadows, so surely having to miss the start of the new year will be a massive blow to the 28-year-old, especially as he’s now fallen to No 15 in the rankings.

“I will start the season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina, end of January, 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 in front of amazing crowds,” the US Open champion announced on his Twitter account.

“I will miss the Australian fans but I will be back in 2023 – we believe this is the right decision in order to have a good return to competition.

“For the moment I will remain in Austria for a few more days and then head to practice outdoors and get ready for my first event of the season.”

Thiem isn’t the only player to be missing out on the major tournament Down Under – Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Karolina Pliskova are all missing out due to injury as well.

And if Novak Djokovic doesn’t reveal his vaccination status and isn’t exempt on medical grounds, he too will be sitting out all competitions in Australia, including the first Grand Slam of the year.

The Australian Open starts on January 17.

Dominic Thiem

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