Wimbledon - 'I had a problem' - Concern builds over Dominic Thiem injury after 'sad news' on Tokyo Olympics

ByDan Quarrell

Updated 24/06/2021 at 10:17 GMT

US Open champion Dominic Thiem could miss Wimbledon after sustaining a wrist injury in Mallorca, adding further woe in a hugely frustrating season. Thiem hurt his wrist hitting a forehand and had to concede his match against Adrian Mannarino as a result. Thiem confirmed scans on his wrist were unclear and he will now visit a specialist before making a decision on playing at Wimbledon next week.

There appears to be mounting concern over Dominic Thiem's fitness ahead of Wimbledon after he suffered a wrist injury in Mallorca.

The 2020 US Open champion hurt his wrist during his clash with Adrian Mannarino as he hit a forehand at the Wimbledon build-up tournament. Thiem subsequently underwent scans after retiring from the match but the results have been inconclusive and he will now visit a specialist in Barcelona before he makes the final decision on whether to withdraw from Wimbledon.

The grass-court Grand Slam begins next Monday and will continue until July 11, with qualifiers already underway in London. Thiem would be the fourth seed in the tournament, but his physio Alex Stober has told the Austrian press that his charge heard a "crack" in his wrist.

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"You won't know anything immediately," Stober told Austrian press.

"Cracking is never good. We're hoping it was just a slight twist, perhaps of the carpal bone... But right now everything is just speculation."

• Thiem a doubt for Wimbledon with wrist injury
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Thiem confirmed the news on his Twitter page, saying: "Yesterday during the match I had a problem with my wrist. I went immediately to do an MRI at the hospital in Palma de Mallorca.

"The results weren’t that clear and I have decided to go to Barcelona to check with a specialist. I hope I can get the results and a clear diagnosis in the next days."

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It has been a thoroughly miserable year so far for Thiem, who had already recently informed fans of his "sad news" in having to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer.

“After talking with my team and analysing the situation I have taken the very difficult decision to withdraw from competing in the Tokyo Olympics,” Thiem said in a statement.

For me, like all athletes, taking part in the Olympics and representing my country is a huge honour and that makes this decision even tougher. However, 2021 did not start as expected and I don’t feel ready to play my best in Tokyo.

“These last two weeks I have been training hard - and I’m starting to improve my conditioning and concentration little by little. My goal is to work hard the coming weeks, give my best at Wimbledon and keep training and hopefully defend my US Open title.

“I wish the entire Austrian team travelling to Tokyo all the best. I am young and I hope to be able to play for Austria at the Olympics in Paris 2024.”

The 27-year-old took a break to “recharge” early in the year as he battled against poor form and fitness and has seemingly had no luck whatsoever in turning his health around so far this season.

Thiem suffered a shock defeat in the first round at Roland Garros as he slumped to a five-set loss to 35-year-old journeyman Pablo Andujar, leading Eurosport expert Mats Wilander to describe it as a "weird" result and "very surprising".

'He's not as motivated' - Wilander reacts to 'weird' Thiem defeat

"Yes, this was a big surprise," Wilander said. "I actually predicted him to get all the way to the finals.

"I thought that he would be nicely rested. Of course, we know that he has been having a few problems with his tennis.

But nicely rested and he supposedly trained really hard. And then he was up two sets to love, so that's even weirder!

"When you see the whole match he looks a little bit tired. He is not as motivated as before.

"I'm sure he is going to be back, but it does feel like he might need to take a little bit of a break at this moment."

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