Dominic Thiem reveals he is yet to be vaccinated, says he hopes to resume proper training by November
Dominic Thiem is on track to make his return to the professional tennis tour soon, with the 2022 Australian Open being a big goal for him. At a recent press conference in Salzburg, Thiem revealed that his wrist injury is healing well enough for him to resume training in a month.
The Austrian also gave an update about his COVID-19 vaccination status. Recent reports suggest that only fully vaccinated players will be allowed entry to Melbourne for the Australian Open, and in that context Dominic Thiem revealed he hasn't yet gotten the jab.
The 28-year-old stated that he is waiting for the availability of the Novavax vaccine, the trials for which are still going on. Thiem did confirm, however, that would take an alternative vaccine in case Novavax is not available in time.
"I actually wanted to get vaccinated with the inactivated Novavax vaccine," Thiem said. "If that doesn't work, I'll just take another vaccine."
Domi is currently having a press conference in Austria 🎙
(📷: APA) https://t.co/sawdgefdDH
Dominic Thiem has been away from competitive tennis action since June, after having picked up a wrist injury at the ATP 250 event in Mallorca. But last week the Austrian issued a positive update about the injury, confirming that he wouldn't be needing surgery for it.
In his presser on Monday Thiem gave another update, saying that he has begun playing tennis at low intensity. The 28-year-old will be flying to Belgium later this month for further examination, and if all goes well, he should start full training by November.
"Today I played 10 minutes of tennis again for the first time," Thiem said. "I have to fight my way back step by step. Today I hit 10 minutes with a softball, tomorrow maybe 15. (If the examination is fine) I will finally hit the balls properly again at the beginning of November."
Dominic Thiem also spoke about the recent controversies regarding his split with physical trainer Alex Stober.
"Mistakes have happened, but I'll try to talk to him (Stober) again," Thiem said.
"The first phase of the injury was mentally bad" - Dominic Thiem
During the course of the press conference, Dominic Thiem also spoke about the effects of the wrist injury on his mental health. The Austrian said that the initial period, when he was trying to make it back for the defense of his US Open title, was especially difficult.
"The first phase in particular was mentally bad," Thiem said. "Somehow I was still hoping for a start at the US Open , but then there were always setbacks. When it was clear that I would have to end the season early, it was a little easier. Then I didn't do anything for four weeks."
The 28-year-old added that it was interesting to live "everyday life" at home while being kept away from the tour due to the injury.
"I haven't been home for so many days in a row in a long time and it was interesting to live a normal everyday life," Thiem said. "Time has shown me that I won't have any problems with leading a normal life later on."
Dominic Thiem further went on to talk about how he is dealing with an injury of this magnitude for the first time in his career. Thiem claimed that an injury was inevitable given that he enjoyed seven fully-fit years in the "first half" of his career.
"My first half of my career was great, I would never have dreamed of such a great seven years," Thiem said. "And I have never been seriously injured. But if you hit a ball 1000 times a day for 10 or 11 years, it is clear that it will eventually become one where injury is coming."