Austria, Dec 28 (UNI) Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem on Tuesday confirmed that he will not compete at the 2022 Australian Open owing to a long-standing wrist injury.
The world no.15 took to Twitter to announce his withdrawal from the Grand Slam event, which is scheduled between January 17-30. Thiem, however, added that he will participate at the Cordoba Open in Argentina.
"I am now feeling well again, my wrist is in optimal conditions and I am practicing normally with a very good intensity. 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," Thiem tweeted.
"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. 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," he added.
Thiem had stated that he would take a final call on participating at the Australian Open by the end of December. The 2020 US Open champion had withdrawn from the ATP Cup and ATP 250 events after he caught a cold while he was in Dubai.
Earlier in June, Thiem withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics 2020 due to his struggling form. He then suffered a wrist injury at the 2021 Mallorca Championships, forcing him to retire from the tournament.
The injury kept Thiem out of the 2021 Wimbledon as well. The Austrian withdrew from the remainder of the 2021 season due to his wrist injury.
UNI PN