Why Is Dominic Thiem Banned From His Home Tournament Vienna Open?

Austrian tennis star and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who recently revealed good news for his fans regarding his wrist recovery, is planning to make an incredible comeback during the 2022 ATP season.

Thiem managed to survive a surgery scare to his right wrist after he injured the same during the opening round matchup against Adrian Mannarino at the grass-court event in Mallorca, Spain.

Despite hitting the practice courts regularly to bounce back to his previous best, Thiem couldn’t attend the Erste Bank Open, even as a member of the audience.

Dominic Thiem reveals reason for not playing ATP Vienna Open 2021

The reason was that the tournament organizers didn’t want to give special exemption to Thiem as he is not yet vaccinated. The Austrian was waiting for the Novavax vaccine to be approved in Austria so that he could take the shot as soon as possible.

“I haven’t been vaccinated yet. I want to wait for the Novavax vaccine because I heard from my doctor that it should be really good. If it works out by the end of November, I’ll have it vaccinated. If not, I’ll get something else vaccinated”, the Austrian mentioned.

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After winning the US Open last year, Dominic Thiem reached the finals of the year-end championships in London, where he lost to Daniil Medvedev. The Austrian’s real troubles came this year where he managed to find motivation to win matches post winning a slam.

Thiem struggled to find a way past youngsters this year on ATP tour

The rise of talented youngsters this year on the ATP tour also slammed Thiem’s chances of making it big at several tournaments as he had to take a break from playing tennis to sit back and focus on his well-being.

Thiem returned to the tour at Madrid Masters, where he reached the semi-finals before losing to eventual champion, Alexander Zverev. This was his last best performance this season as he ended up with an injury while playing his first grass court match of the season at Mallorca.

After going through a tough season on the men’s circuit this year, Thiem will want to bounce back stronger than ever at the Australian Open next year, where he reached the finals in 2020, losing out to World No.1 Novak Djokovic.

Also read: “Gave Me a Slap Through Media”: Dominic Thiem Reveals Reason Behind Firing His Fitness Coach