Dominic Thiem: 2020 US Open champion pulls out of Australian Open with wrist injury, to start season in South America
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ByEurosport
Updated 28/12/2021 at 10:26 GMT
"I will start the season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina at the end of January, and will therefore not play this year at the Australian Open. We believe this is the right decision in order to have a good return to competition." The Australian Open starts on January 17 and concludes on January 30. Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on-demand on discovery+.
Dominic Thiem pulls out of Australian Open with wrist injury
Image credit: Eurosport
Dominic Thiem has confirmed he will not compete at this year’s Australian Open, owing to a wrist injury.
The 28-year-old last played a competitive match in June’s Mallorca Open, where he injured his wrist.
The 28-year-old 2020 US Open winner said in a statement on Twitter that he had suffered a minor set-back in his rehabilitation but added that his wrist is “in optimal conditions and I am now practicing normally with a very good intensity.”
The Australian Open would come too soon for the Austrian though, who said he would begin his season at the end of January.
“After the short holidays, my team and I have assessed all matters and we have decided to make some changes to my initial tournament schedule," began Thiem.
"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.
“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."
The Australian Open runs from January 17 to 30 and it is expected that around 3,000 people associated with the tournament will be landing around the country, with warm-up events taking place in Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne.
Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley has said the 2022 Australian Open "has been 10 times” more difficult to organise than this year’s edition – and there have already been players testing positive on arrival, including Denis Shapovalov one such example.
Furthermore, any player wanting to compete will need to be vaccinated or have a medical exemption not to. So...
Who else could miss the tournament?
Most of the players who competed at the Mubadala Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi have seen their preparations disrupted by a positive test result, including Emma Raducanu, Rafael Nadal, Belinda Bencic, Andrey Rublev and Ons Jabeur.
Nadal cast doubt on his participation by saying he couldn't "guarantee" that he would play, although Tiley said that he was confident the 35-year-old would be there.
Serena Williams, Jennifer Brady, Karolina Muchova, Karolina Pliskova and Thiem have pulled out due to injury while it’s still wait and see with Novak Djokovic. Women’s defending champion Naomi Osaka has travelled to Australia as she prepares to play for the first time since the US Open.
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Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on-demand on discovery+.
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