Dominic Thiem posted an update about his career, which again scared fans as he's struggling with an injury.
The Austrian hasn't had a very good year so far, which prompted him to admit that he might consider retiring from the sport. In his mind, it doesn't make sense to really go through the emotions if he can't get back to the level he once had.
So far, that hasn't happened, and this latest development might seal his destiny. Two of the last three matches Thiem played were far below his level. He suffered one bad loss and then an even worse loss which surprised many.
We didn't really know what was going on except that Thiem was playing really badly. He's been playing far from the level he had a few years ago, but this was a new low.
Now, we know what's been going on. It's some inflammation in his wrist that popped up recently. He talked about it in his update on Instagram.
"There were many rumours in the last days and I want you all get to know the truth. As you all know, I started to practice again with my dad after the Australian Open."
"We started to practice like I did when I was younger with a lot of intensity, a lot of strokes, a lot of hours on the court. The first tournament back for me, my wrist started to make some issues again."
The cause of the wrist discomfort is inflammation, which he found out after undergoing tests after his most recent loss. Right now, Thiem's goal is to give his wrist a chance to heal so that he can get back to playing tennis.
He also wants to be ready for the Estoril Open, which begins in only a few days. The ATP 250 event is starting on March 30th.
"I started to have those clicks again, which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago. And also this strange feeling came back, and yeah, it turned into pain in the last weeks, and there's a minor inflammation there."
"Right now the situation is that I turned down the volume a bit. I'm practising a little bit less, and also a little bit shorter because chances are good that I can make it to Estoril, where I can play. That's the plan as well."