Dominic Thiem responds after media snipes from his former physio

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Dominic Thiem waving

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has issued a statement after he confirmed he has split with members of his backroom staff after a challenging 2021.

Thiem has struggled with injuries through this year and his now former physiotherapist Alex Stober going public to express his disappointment after he was informed he was no longer rerquired by the Austrian star.

“I was absolutely loyal to Dominic for six years – and then he doesn’t even have the courage to tell me that we are no longer working together,” Stober told tennisnet.

It was a quote that inspired a response from Thiem, as he suggested the reason for the changes are due to the problems he has endured in the last 12 months.

“As most of you know, a few months ago I decided to make some changes to my team structure,” he said on Twitter.

“This was all announced and we are happy with the changes we made. These changes didn’t affect my core competition team which has remained the same throughout Unfortunately as you all know, I picked up a freak injury in the build up to Wimbledon.

“I worked hard with the wrist specialists and my team to agree the best recovery plan. In hindsight, during this recovery process, an unfortunate mistake resulted in me missing not only the US Open, but ultimately the rest of the season.

“I would have loved to have kept this issue private but following some disappointing stories in the media, I have decided that it is important that I share my side of the story and will be addressing the media in due course.

“We have already moved on but I hope this will allow me to draw a line under the experience and let me focus on getting back to full fitness in order to start playing again as soon as possible.”

This is now a story Thiem will be asked to speak about when he next faces the media, with the former world No.3 hopeful of returning to top form in time for the Australian Open in January.

Dominic Thiem

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