Before falling 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open on Tuesday, Dominic Thiem said he was pleased with his performance. However, he was thrown out of his stride and struck in the abdomen.
By winning the US Open in 2020, Thiem broke the Big Three’s hold on Grand Slam titles. However, in 2021, he suffered a wrist injury that kept him out of the game for months, and ever since then, he has struggled to get back to where he was before.
Before injuring an abdominal muscle while serving in the second set, the Austrian, who is 29 years old, said he was “happy with that performance” against Rublev.
Thiem explained to reporters, “The sun was – I was in a difficult position to serve, so I completely changed the toss and something happened after at the abs or at the ribs.”
“There is no significant inflammation or strain.” It was inconvenient that it took place in the middle of the second set.
“However, to be honest, I don’t think I could beat Rublev yet because he is a top-five seed here. even in prosperous times. despite the fact that I was completely self-assured.” It will be nearly impossible to defeat him with a problem like his abdominal muscles. It would be incredibly challenging.”
Thiem, on the other hand, is hopeful that he will regain his form in 2020 after a difficult year on the second-tier Challenger Tour in which he struggled to win matches.
At first, I had no idea how difficult it would be. Also, I was playing much worse than I thought I would, which made the return difficult,” Thiem stated.
However, things changed, particularly toward the year’s end and the final tournament. I played pretty well there. “I just had a really tough opponent, so this tournament doesn’t change anything.”