Dominic Thiem could lose his position in the top 10 soon
Dominic Thiem recently announced the "good news" about not having to go under the knife for his wrist injury, but the Austrian is yet to begin full-strength training. Thiem hopes to make a comeback at the start of the 2022 season, with the Australian Open being his first target.
While he is off the court though, Dominic Thiem's ranking is in danger of going into freefall. Jannik Sinner’s entry into the Round of 16 at the European Open in Italy, coupled with a string of good performances from Hubert Hurkacz, has put Thiem's top 10 position at risk.
Sitting currently at the eighth position with 3815 points, the 28-year-old is just 200 points ahead of Casper Ruud, who has claimed an impressive five ATP titles this season. Behind Ruud are other close competitors Hubert Hurkacz, Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime, who have fought constantly throughout the season for a spot in Turin's ATP Finals.
Sinner and Auger-Aliassime are well behind Thiem in the world rankings right now, with a gap of over 500 points. But Hurkacz is only 437 points behind, and looking good to make up the gap in the coming months.
If these three players continue their good form, which has cumulatively landed them six titles and three runner-up finishes in 2021, they stand a good chance of overtaking Thiem by the end of the year.
Dominic Thiem would look to turn over a new leaf in 2022
Most people think that the worst nightmare for an active sportsperson is being forced out of the game for a long period of time due to an injury. But what’s even worse is dealing with consequences that are usually not in their control: lack of match practice for the next season, losing good form, mental health issues, drop in rankings, drying up of brand endorsements.
For Dominic Thiem, the story has not been too different. After sealing his first Grand Slam victory at the 2020 US Open, which was preceded by five ATP titles (including a Masters 1000 at Indian Wells), Thiem had climbed up to a career-high ranking of World No. 3.
But the unprecedented shutdown of sporting events due to the pandemic, coupled with a slow start to 2021, Thiem’s performances started to deteriorate. In a bid to recharge and come back in time to defend his US Open and Indian Wells titles, the Austrian even decided to call off his participation in the Tokyo Olympics.
However, due to mismanagement of the treatment process which led to a public split with his physiotherapist, Alex Stober, Thiem's wrist injury flared up again in August. He will now have to wait on the sidelines and watch his rankings drop further before he can return to the court.