Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem withdrew from next month’s Australian Open to regain full fitness following a long wrist injury.
Thiem, who hasn’t played since being injured in Mallorca’s ATP 250 in June, has failed to defend his US Open title this year.
He has already skipped other practice events for the ATP Cup team event starting Saturday in Sydney and the hard court tournament at Melbourne Park.
“I feel fine again, my pulse is in perfect condition and I’m training at a very good intensity in general,” Thiem said on Twitter.
“After the break, my team and I considered all the issues and decided to make some changes to our initial tournament schedule.”
Thiem, who slipped to 15th in the rankings, reached the final of the Australian Open last year and won his first major trophy at Flushing Meadows.
He decided not to return to the competition, playing a five-set match at Melbourne Park, deciding to make his 2022 season debut in South America at the ATP 250 in Córdoba, Argentina in late January. He will also participate in the Rio Open to be held in February.
“I will miss the Australian fans but I will be back in 2023,” Thiem said.