'Rafael Nadal had the same injury in 2016, it should heal,' says Dominic Thiem

The defending US Open champion Dominic Theim will not defend his crown next month in New York, sidelined with a wrist injury. The Austrian injured his right hand while chasing a forehand against Adrian Mannarino in the Mallorca second round in June and has not played ever since, missing the rest of the season and hoping for a fresh start in 2022. Giving his best to recover, Thiem had worked with his left hand in July before his right wrist started to hurt again and sent the alarm bells to him. Speaking about his injury, Thiem did not rule out surgery, considering every option and feeling confident about a positive outcome. The Austrian mentioned Rafael Nadal, who had to miss many tournaments due to a wrist injury in 2016, only to return stronger a year later when he became world no. 1 again. Rafa had to withdraw from Roland Garros due to left wrist problems, skipping Queen's, Wimbledon, Toronto, Basel, Paris and the ATP Finals in the rest of the season. 

Dominic Thiem struggles with a wrist injury, having to skip the rest of the season.

"Rafael Nadal had the same injury in 2016, so as Kei Nishikori and Belinda Bencic. The doctors have said that if it heals properly, it is not a problem. If things do not go as planned, the chance to undergo surgery is already there, but it would not be a disaster either. It would simply increase the time until I can be back on the court. If it really comes to the surgery, it will take a month or two longer. But it would be an operation that many players have already done, and it is not a bad thing in terms of the future. Now I'm actually better than before because there is now complete clarity. I now have a precise timetable for what the next weeks and months will look like. The US Open and the rest of the season were in the back of my mind, and I really wanted to do it. It just came too early; I paid a small price for not having any experience with injuries like this. I wanted a little too early, too much," Dominic Thiem said.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/3sJqXuE