Dominic Thiem suffers wrist injury setback

The Austrian revealed via an Instagram post to fans that he has suffered a flare-up of pain in his right wrist similar to the discomfort caused by his injury back in 2021

Dominic Thiem speaks to press at the Erste Bank Open, 2023 Gepa / Panoramic

Jamie Malachy

March 28, 2024

Dominic Thiem has revealed that he has suffered a minor recurrence of the wrist injury that kept him out of action for nine months between 2021 and 2022.

The Austrian made the announcement via an Instragram video post to his fans, saying that he’s experienced pain in the affected area after an intense training block, but that he holds high hope of returning to competition at the clay-court tournament in Estoril next week.

“As you all know, I started to practise again with my dad after the Australian Open, to get back to the practice that made me really good,” Thiem said.

“So we started to practise like we did when I was younger, with a lot of intensity, a lot of strokes, a lot of hours on the court.

“Unfortunately, a little bit before the Challenger in Hungary, the first tournament back for me, my wrist started to have some issues again. I started to have those clicks again, which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago.

“This strange feeling came back, and it turned into pain in the past weeks.”

Dominic Thiem confirms he is again injured in his right wrist.

He will play the @EstorilOpen next week to test himself, but it surely doesn’t sound good…

😢 pic.twitter.com/hKu5xSvY8T
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 27, 2024

The 2020 US Open champion is still very much on the road to a full comeback following that wrist injury back in 2021. While results have been steadily improving, the general consensus is that Thiem remains some way off his previous best form after such a lengthy spell away from the match court.

A recurrence of pain in the same area will be greatly alarming to the Austrian and his supporting team. However, the assertion from Thiem that he feels hopeful of playing a tour-level event next week should go some way to alleviating the concerns of worried fans.

The hope will be that the pain is simply a short-term symptom of a heavy training block.

“There is a minor inflammation there, and that’s why I pulled out of the Napoli Challenger [this] week,” Thiem continued.

“Right now the situation is I turned down the volume a bit. I’m practising a little bit less, also a little bit shorter, because the chances are good that I can make it to Estoril.”

Having set a career-best ranking of No 3 in the world, the Austrian currently sits just inside the top 100 at 90.

Should his wrist allow it, the European clay-court stretch will be a pivotal part of the season for a player whose best results – bar his maiden major triumph in New York – have typically come on clay, and who admitted that 2024 was likely to be his “last chance” to reach his former heights.

All eyes will be on Thiem in Estoril next week, with the firm hope that this setback is indeed as minor as it is being portrayed.