MY ACCOUNT
Dominic Thiem has confirmed he has been given a coronavirus vaccine and will return to action in Abu Dhabi next month with the objective of playing in the 2022 Australian Open.
The 2020 US Open champion has been out of action since suffering a wrist injury at the Mallorca Championships in June.
Thiem on Tuesday revealed he has made good progress with his recovery and will play in the World Tennis Championship, an exhibition event that will be staged from December 16-18.
The 28-year-old had stated he wanted to wait for a Novavax jab, but was urged by Austrian minister for Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection Wolfgang Muckstein to take an alternative vaccine as his preferred choice would not be available until next year.
Thiem says he has now been vaccinated and is relishing getting back on court as he eyes a grand slam return in Melbourne in January.
“I am very happy to announce that my recovery is going well. The MRI I did today showed that my wrist injury has improved significantly,” Thiem tweeted on Tuesday.
“A couple of weeks ago I started playing with soft balls and was able to switch to normal tennis balls during yesterday’s practice session. My team and I strongly believe that I’ll be ready to make my comeback later this year.
“I’ll be returning to competition in December and will be playing the MWTC 2021 in Abu Dhabi – with the objective to return to the Tour for the 2022 Australian Open.
“Needless to say that the vaccine is needed to play both events, and in my case I have already been vaccinated. I saw recently some news about this and I had to make it very clear that I would get vaccinated. Hopefully the next time things won’t be taken this far [sic] as I saw last week…”
Rafael Nadal is also set to return from injury in Abu Dhabi.
