Australian Open 2022: All the latest news as tennis stars arrive in Melbourne
Dominic Thiem says his wrist has fully healed from an injury — but he’s still had to push back his return to competitive tennis.
Dominic Thiem plans to return to competitive tennis in Australia in January after cancelling his participation at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi this week.
“The ATP Cup is definitely the goal now. I hope I will be able to play there... I’m optimistic,” the 2020 US Open champion told reporters.
The 28-year-old said his wrist had fully healed from an injury — that had kept him off the court since August — but he had yet to overcome a mental block when he is hitting the ball.
“The whole process is going according to plan. I am pain free. But I lag behind in training. I only go on the court when I can do 100 per cent of the forehand, and I am currently at 80,” he said.
The Austrian said he was currently back to training several hours a day but has not yet played against any of his teammates, leading him to call off competing at Mubadala World Tennis Championship this week.
Thiem said he would fly from Abu Dhabi to Sydney later this month. After the ATP Cup, Thiem plans to compete in the first Grand Slam of 2022 at the Australian Open.
At the ATP Cup in Sydney, he is scheduled to play the opening match against defending champion and world number two Daniil Medvedev on January 2.
Thiem, whose world ranking has dropped to 15th from third in 2020, said he expected to have to fight hard once he returns.
“It will certainly be a rocky way back, the level is very high. But I also had to work my way up in my younger years, and I also made it back then,” he said.
YOUNG STAR’S AUS OPEN SETBACK AFTER COVID POSITIVE
US Open champion Emma Raducanu pulled out of this week’s Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi after testing positive for Covid-19, organisers announced on Monday.
The 19-year-old Briton was due to face Olympic champion Belinda Bencic on Thursday in the exhibition tournament.
Instead, Raducanu, who had already travelled to the United Arab Emirates, will now have to complete a period of isolation.
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Providing she does not experience any lingering illness, however, the world number 19 should still be able to travel to Australia ahead of the first Grand Slam tournament of 2022.
“I was very much looking forward to playing in front of the fans here in Abu Dhabi, but unfortunately, after testing positive for Covid-19, I will have to postpone until the next opportunity,” Raducanu said in a statement released by the organisers.
“I’m isolating as per rules and hopefully will be able to get back soon.”
Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam when she beat Leylah Fernandez in the US Open final at Flushing Meadows, has been working with new coach Torben Beltz ahead of what will be her first full season on the WTA Tour.
The teenager will also be in isolation for Sunday’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, where she is up against Tom Daley, Tyson Fury, Adam Peaty, Raheem Sterling and Sarah Storey in the public vote for Britain’s top sportsperson of 2021
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