Dominic Thiem Begins French Open 2022 Preparations Following Prolonged Hiatus From Tour

World No. 16 Dominic Thiem is all set to make his comeback at the Cordoba Open starting from 31st January in Argentina. A recent training video on social media shows Thiem training in Austria, ready for a return to the Tour. 

The former World No. 3 injured his wrist while playing at the Mallorca Open in June last year. The injury forced him to not only retire from the tournament but also withdraw from the remainder of the season. 

Beyond having to withdraw from tournaments, being out of the game for months made Thiem’s ranking take a massive drop, pushing him out of the top 10. The Austrian, who was the 5th ranked player that time, fell to 15th at the end of the year and will lose further points since he isn’t participating at the Happy Slam this year. 

Dominic Thiem is getting ready to return to the tour

Steadily recovering from his injury, Dominic Thiem was seen practicing for the first time around Mid-October last year. 

Videos of Thiem’s first post-injury on-court session started surfacing on social media. The posts took no time to get flooded with wishes for the player. In the video, Thiem was seen hitting some light strokes and focusing on his court movement. 

Seeing his increasing intensity, fans around the world started speculating about his return to the tour at Australian Open 2022. However, the player took to Twitter to announce that he will start his 2022 season at Cordoba Open and not the Australian Open.

He recently posted a video on his Instagram story, where he was seen playing on a clay court in Austria and hitting some high-intensity shots. A number of fan pages of the player reposted the video.

Even though Thiem is giving the Australian Summer a miss, he looks in good shape as he prepares to come back stronger on the clay courts. With 10 out of his 17 career titles coming on the red surface, clay courts have always been a strong point for Dominic. 

Also Read- Dominic Thiem To See a Major Ranking Setback After Australian Open 2022 Update

The 2-time French Open runner-up is also expected to make his Grand Slam comeback at this year’s Roland Garros, where he will be eyeing his second major. 

Thiem in the 2021 season

The 2021 season did not seem to go well for Thiem. The then third-ranked Thiem faced a 4th round defeat at the Australian Open. But this wasn’t all for the Austrian, he also faced first round exits in Dubai, Lyon, and the French Open last year.

Already struggling for form, Dominic entered the Mallorca Open with a first-round bye. However, he injured his wrist in the second-round match against Adrian Mannarino, forcing him to withdraw from the tournament and the rest of the season. 

He’ll be looking to make up for lost time when he returns to the Tour in Argentina. We wish him all the best for the future.

Watch this story- “Show Some Respect”- Daniil Medvedev Slams “Low IQ” Audience for Making Noise