Former world number two and US Open champion Dominic Thiem has had a tumultuous past few seasons.
In 2020, the Austrian ascended to the pinnacle of tennis, achieving landmark milestones such as clinching his first Grand Slam and regularly beating tennis icons Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Unfortunately for the Austrian, since the tail end of his incredible 2020 campaign, he has suffered a host of injuries, including a severe wrist injury. This denied the “Dominator” from defending his US Open title and competing in other events such as the Olympics, Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
Recently, however, the 29-year-old has shown signs of reigniting his mesmerizing form. The Austrian produced an unprecedented semi-final finish at the Gijon Open in Spain two weeks ago. His performance this past week in Antwerp, an ATP 250, has given fans optimism about another ascendancy to the top.
However, is it truly possible for the world number 131 to produce a miraculous comeback and win another Grand Slam? Is the severity of Dominic Thiem’s wrist injury insurmountable or manageable? Find out here on Main Stand with Agastya Bajaj as we dissect Dominic Thiem’s injury.
The injury ‘Thiemline’
Before these past few unpalatable seasons, Dominic Thiem was highly regarded as one of the fittest players on tour.
In 2020, when most players were isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic, Dominic Thiem relentlessly competed week in and week out.
The Austrian competed and dominated tournaments across the planet at every level, with regular deep runs and title charges at slams and ATP tournaments. Even during the pandemic, Thiem was one of a few athletes competing regularly in exhibition tournaments to raise money for charity.
The accumulation of excessive matches played, an unrivaled amount to his top 10 competitors, would eventually take a toll on him.
After winning the US Open, the Austrian’s fitness issues became apparent and unpleasant. Thiem could not replicate his unplayable winning form, with an apparent foot injury restricting him from beating Andrey Rublev and defending his hometown Vienna title in October. This foot injury also omitted Domi from participating in the Paris Masters, the final ATP 1000 event of the season.
Despite his injury niggles and a leg injury hindering his overall performance, Thiem finished an incredible campaign in the ATP finals by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en route to the final. Thiem would lose his second consecutive ATP Finals event but would be hailed player of the year by many fans and outlets such as Sports Illustrated.
Dominic Thiem’s 2021 season would be the beginning of an unfortunate demise for the Austrian. In the inaugural event of the year and equivalent of the World Cup, Thiem and Austria were eliminated in the group stage after retiring against France’s Benoit Paire.
Over the next few weeks, Thiem suffered a spree of catastrophic losses. Although he ended 2022 Wimbledon Finalist Nick Kyrgios’ unbeaten streak at Melbourne Arena in a five-set thriller, he would succumb in the next round to Grigor Dimitrov.
Thiem would go on to lose successive matches in Dubai and Doha. After this inexplicable u-turn in form, the Austrian put a statement on social media, saying he “feels it (foot pain) in every match,” indicating he’ll need to recharge and fully recover from his lingering foot injury to return to form.
After several weeks of resting, Thiem made his return during the clay swing. The “Dominator” was still unable to capture silverware, let alone come remotely close, with early eliminations to Zverev and Sonego in Madrid and Rome, respectively.
The two-time Roland Garros finalist would still enter the French Open as one of the favorites. Unfortunately for Domi, his dream of capturing his first Roland Garros title would have to wait after losing to veteran Spaniard Pablo Andujar from two sets to love in the preeminent round.
After being hailed by many as the next face of the tour, Thiem’s unorthodox performances sent shockwaves down the ATP Tour community. His undisclosed foot injury was troubling his movement and stamina.
Dominic Thiem would suffer his biggest nightmare in his next tournament, the Mallorca championships. At 5-2 up against Adrian Mannarino in the first set of the opening round, Thiem would suffer a wrist injury and retire from the encounter.
This injury would keep him out of a year’s worth of tennis, a blow for the 2020 Tennis player of the year attempting to rediscover his form after a lingering spell of injuries.
Dissecting the injury
The initial diagnosis of Thiem’s wrist injury was “the detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist,” confirmed by the Austrian on social media.
Thiem’s team was initially optimistic that he could recover from this branch of a wrist tear within four to six weeks.
With this goal, Thiem and his team undertook several measures to speed up his recovery.
Methods such as using liquid wax to enhance warmth, electric impulses to improve circulation, and consuming certain nutrients for mobility were strictly followed to ensure Thiem returns during this expected recovery period. The Austrian also wore a wrist splint during this period, with the injury making Domi unable to rotate the wrist.
In October, Thiem’s therapist told the press he was stunned at the restricted mobility of Thiem’s injured wrist. Thiem himself echoed this sentiment, stating that it is “super stiff, the right hand and wrist.”
With Thiem unable to recover in the expected period, the Austrian undertook a staggering nine-month training program to recover from this injury fully. This would keep the Austrian out of action for nearly a year, a catastrophic blow to a talent who desperately required a revitalization in form.
Thiem’s initial return to the courts ensued after a 16-week absence from picking up a racket, beginning with two weeks of training with a soft tennis ball to reduce further damage and pain to the tendon.
After two weeks of reacclimating to the courts, Thiem and his trainers designed a specific program to stagger his load and regain full mobility. This training program was staggered to sustainably revitalize his fitness levels, with some days lasting 11 hours too.
The typical training day would incorporate a variety of physical conditioning sessions, light tennis training sessions, and gym sessions. The intensity of these sessions would enhance as the program prolonged too, with the ambition of Thiem returning to match fitness and sharpness.
After following this program, Dominic Thiem finally returned to action in the Marbella challenger, in March 2022, with the Austrian losing in the first round of this challenger. His recovery took another unfortunate bump in the road, testing positive for COVID. This positive test kept him out of action for another few weeks too.
As aforementioned, after returning from COVID, Thiem would embark on an unpalatable run of form, far from his best and unable to reach the heights of his winning success. This would subsequently lead to Dominic Thiem falling to 310 in the ATP rankings.
Thiem would also fluctuate between competing in Tour-level and Challenger-level tournaments in an attempt to revitalize his form.
Unfortunately for the Austrian, Thiem would embark on a downward spiral over the next few months with early exits in almost every tournament bar the past two in Gijon and Antwerp, respectively.
After beating Thiem in straight sets at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, former number one Andy Murray told the press why Dominic Thiem has been struggling.
“It’s difficult when you try and come back from that, because the pain you feel when you initially hurt it, mentally it is very hard to, you know, let go of the wrist,” said Murray. “When the ball is low and you know you really have to use your wrist to get the ball up and down, or when the ball is coming fast and quite high you need to use your wrist a lot to bring the ball down.”
“But there were certain specific shots that usually he would make. He’s still serving well and was hitting backhand very well. He’s an excellent mover.”
Although Murray uttered these remarks in May, the premise of those quotes still stood firm until the Antwerp Open last week.
Can the Dominator return?
With all of this considered, is it genuinely possible for Dominic Thiem to return to the top of the pecking order, or is the severity of the injury insurmountable to sustain winning form?
Yes, it is possible. It won’t be straightforward, but recent wrist injury history and performances suggest Thiem is poised for success again, but with a sense of caution.
In recent ATP tour history, we’ve seen a host of types of wrists injuries due to the relentless topspin. Top players such as Rafael Nadal, Juan Martin Del Potro and Kei Nishikori have all suffered wrist injuries, with some, such as the Matador, indefinitely recovering, while others like Del Potro and Nishikori unable to sustain their elite heights.
Although the severity of Thiem’s injury kept him out for a lengthy duration, his wrist seemingly hasn’t hindered his game in recent weeks. His movement and shotmaking have reminisced his title-winning form, freely moving and regularly hitting incredible trademark one-handed backhand winners, shots only the Austrian can currently hit.
Thiem has also produced spectacular recovery points and winners, which require the wrist’s mobility to be in immaculate condition, implying his ruthless and generational weapons are slowly but surely returning.
This is a byproduct of team Thiem’s structured therapeutic rehab process, with Thiem not rushing into high-level action and gradually increasing training intensity.
Unlike certain players who’ve still reported lingering side effects after their return, Thiem’s specific training completely eradicated his “stiff wrist setback”. Throughout the past few weeks, whether it is in pressers or matches, Thiem has not indicated any signs of pain or hindrance to performance.
The main setback from the generational Austrian and first player born in the 1990s to win a grand slam seems to be his confidence. As Murray suggested, returning from injury, particularly a long absence, diminishes one’s confidence due to not wanting to aggravate the injury and being unable to produce in their injured part.
It seems like Dominic Thiem just needs to find continuity at the highest level and forge consistency at ATP tour-level events.
For Thiem, he can also take pride in players such as Federer and Nadal, returning from lengthy absences and rediscovering alongside sustaining their unplayable form. In 2017, Roger and Rafa came back to the court following lengthy absences to prevail.
Two of the most famous tennis players in the game’s history underwent severe treatment and were told by many critics that their good days were over, only for them to meet in the Australian Open final with the Swiss man claiming the title.
The legends went on to win all the Grand Slams that year, sharing two a piece with Roger and Rafa eventually reconquering the world again.
Dominic Thiem is also returning to a completely different landscape, with teenager Carlos Alcarez occupying the world's number one spot.
Widely regarded as the most talented player ever, former tennis player Roger Federer became the oldest world number one ever, at 36 years of age. This would provide Thiem further encouragement on a potential return to the top, with his wrist injury finely mitigated and history suggesting generational talents such as Domi, can return after lengthy absences past the physical peak of their illustrious years.
That being said, a revitalization at the upper echelon is plausible and achievable.
Sources
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/dominic-thiem-return-to-action-tennis#:~:text=Come%20October%20time%2C%20Thiem%20is,right%20hand%20and%20the%20wrist.%E2%80%9D
https://www.tennis.com/news/articles/thiem-announces-he-won-t-need-wrist-surgery- ahead-of-2022-return
https://sports.yahoo.com/andy-murray-explains-dominic-thiem-100953403.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACcN-p6ViNNP57aKXiQ2j8SrwDb3C53UmV6LBJsLvdMpOCQxQvJV2PmhhrHviM3ejUafACs5gJufMFqRCO5cp_hT8qMCf94Y4sULp1ok_jhroekUKoii3JpWHNxF0UlX6m96BaNBBWDO0yGZDt58h7WKgTtonLr4qNX7P11age4i
