Dominic Thiem believes he is ready to take the next step in his recovery process when he plays in the 2022 Estoril Open, his second ATP tournament of the season.
Thiem suffered a right wrist injury last June, which forced him to miss the rest of the year. He returned to the ATP Tour last week at the Serbia Open in Belgrade, where he showed promise in his opening encounter against John Millman.
Obviously, the goal for the Austrian player wasn't to win the ATP 250 tournament in Belgrade, but rather to get some matches behind his belt, and he achieved that, as he admitted also prior to the tournament that his preparation was not ideal.
"I feel much better already than Belgrade. The improvement is there every single day. In practice points I’m still having troubles — not with the wrist, the wrist is fine also in points — but [in] all the movement, all the reaction, all the anticipation, I’m still not 100 per cent yet. It will take many more matches until I’m back at the top level there. So I’m not feeling capable of winning this tournament."
What's important for the 2020 US Open champion, however, is the fact that he got to play a Tour-level match, which will help him on his journey back to the top of the ATP Rankings.
"But every match is super important for me now. I’m going to try my best, I’m going to fight 100 per cent from the first to the last point, even when I’m not playing my best tennis, which can happen. And that’s it. I have low expectations this week and also the next ones to come. But obviously I’m trying everything to win and I’m going to see what comes out at the end."
On top just getting to play a match, Thiem also highlighted the importance of playing practice matches against top opponents, something he wouldn't get a chance to do if he wouldn't travel to the tournament.
"Of course it’s the matches which I need, but also it’s the practice sessions with top players and those you can only get [at] the tournaments. I think that they are as important to get used to the pace again, to get used to the fast movements again, anticipation, reaction, that’s so important."
"The first short-term goal to be in a decent shape again is the French Open. I’m definitely not going to be a favourite there, but maybe I can win some matches there and if I face a top opponent, maybe I can give him a hard match. That’s the short-term goal. To make big things, I think I’m going to have to wait until the second part of the season."
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