On June 22 of the previous year, Thiem sustained a serious wrist injury at the lawn tournament in Mallorca – also in Spain – and has not played on the tour since. The current number 228 should now be the ideal opponent for re-entry. After Marbella, Thiem has planned the ATP 250 tournament in Marrakech (from April 4th) and also for Monte Carlo (from April 10th) and Belgrade (April 18th).
Should the US Open winner of 2020 take the first hurdle, which is probably not that easy, especially mentally, he will meet either Spain’s veteran star Fernando Verdasco or Frenchman Manuel Guinard in Marbella. Number two behind Thiem in the 134,920 euro clay court challenger, which brings 125 ATP points if you win the title, is Slovakian Alex Molcan.
Thiem before comeback
After an injury break of almost nine months, Dominic Thiem is making his comeback on Tuesday. At the Challenger tournament in Marbella, the Lower Austrian wants to take the first steps on his way back to the top of the world.
Wawrinka is also part of the game
A far better-known player in the field is Stan Wawrinka, who is making his comeback at the age of 37 after a year’s hiatus. With the Swede Elias Ymer, the three-time Swiss major winner does not have an easy start.
The tournament has a strong connection to Austria, as it was launched by Ronald Leitgeb, who recently died unexpectedly. His son Florian, who was also tournament director at the Challenger in Tulln last year, is now also the tournament boss in Spain, where the Leitgebs live.
Comeback repeatedly postponed
It is to be hoped that his physical condition and confidence in his own fitness will not cause Thiem to back down this time. The four-time major finalist suffered a tear in the tendon sheath and the associated joint capsule in his right wrist in the summer. After that, returning to training too early threw him back, which also led to the separation from long-term physio Alex Stober.
In mid-December, Thiem initially wanted to return to the tour at a show tournament in Abu Dhabi, then at the ATP Cup and the Australian Open and then at the clay court tournaments in South America in February. At the beginning of February, Thiem announced that he would not return until the Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells at the earliest, but this and the 1000s this week in Miami also took place and will take place without him.
In the ATP ranking, the former third in the world rankings recently held 50th place. On April 25, the title from Barcelona 2019, which was still in his points due to the special coronavirus rule, is out of the standings (250 points), before that the damage is limited. In addition, Thiem will re-enter with a “protected ranking”. That doesn’t bring him a seed and doesn’t save him from difficult first-round opponents, but at least he doesn’t need wildcards if he continues to lose ground.
