Bromance resumes: Dominic Thiem welcomes Alexander Zverev as he returns to action after nearly 6 months
World No. 12 Alexander Zverev was given a warm greeting by his good friend Dominic Thiem on his return to action after nearly six months.
Zverev endured a severe ankle injury during his French Open semifinal against Rafael Nadal and had to leave the court in a wheelchair. He was planning to make a return at the Davis Cup in September but pulled out at the last minute after suffering a bone injury.
Zverev finally returned to action at the Diriyah Tennis Cup, an exhibition tournament in Saudi Arabia, where he squared off against Thiem. After the match, Thiem took to Instagram with a heartfelt message for the German.
"Glad to have you back," the Austrian wrote in his Instagram stories on Thursday.
Zverev beat Dominic Thiem 10-8, 10-7 in under half an hour to qualify for the quarterfinals. He won most of the important points and showed very few signs of rust.
Alexander Zverev defeated in quarterfinals of Diriyah Tennis Cup
Alexander Zverev could not progress further in the Diriyah Tennis Cup as he fell in the quarterfinals to World No. 7 Daniil Medvedev.
Medvedev registered a comprehensive 6-0, 6-4 win to qualify for the semifinals. The defending champion will now square off against Stan Wawrinka for a place in the final.
Despite facing a break point in the first and third games of the match, Medvedev kept his composure to bagel the German in the first set. Although Zverev played better in the second set and led 3-1, Medvedev fought back to level the scores and break the German once more to seal victory in an hour and 32 minutes.
In the other semifinal, World No. 14 Cameron Norrie will meet 2022 Japan Open champion Taylor Fritz.