Dominic Thiem reflected on his exit from the 2024 Estoril Open by once again admitting that he's not the player he was four years ago.
Only a few years ago Thiem was ranked firmly inside the Top 10 of the ATP Tour, regularly playing deep in events, and actually a Grand Slam champion. He won the 2020 US Open, becoming a major winner, but he would never reach the same level again.
He struggled with his level the year after the big triumph, and then his wrist injury happened, and everything snowballed after that. The Austrian played decently at times as he worked his back from injury, but he's been struggling a lot last year.
This year has been rock bottom as he recently lost two matches to players ranked outside of the Top 200. The Estoril Open was a decent experience for him as he finally won a Tour-level match again but then found himself beaten by Richard Gasquet in a match where he served for the second set.
He reflected on that match after it on social media, striking a pretty positive tone overall while acknowledging that he's not the player he used to be anymore.
"Today's match wasn't bad, but I still need to find my game rhythm. As I said in my last interview, I'm not the player of 2020 anymore. I have to deal with the current situation, with the fact that my wrist doesn't give me the strength it used to."
Thiem also admitted that his wrist issues are not completely gone, and he's still managing them to the best of his ability after a recent flare-up. Hopes that he will get better in the coming weeks so he can play pain-free again.
"I have to be honest with myself. The pain is a lot less compared to the last few weeks, but like I said, I haven't regained my full strength."
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