"Absolutely not" - Thiem did not contemplate retirement during long injury rehab

Dominic Thiem did a recent interview where he was asked whether he contemplated retiring from tennis after having to miss almost a year of action due to a complicated wrist injury.

Former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem revealed that ending his career never crossed his mind as he was confident in the work of the doctors around him. Last June, Thiem sustained a wrist injury at the Mallorca Open. Initially, it wasn't considered a major setback. but when he started preparing to return to the US Open, he suffered a setback.

When it happened, Thiem remained positive and took a more cautious approach, In an interview with ORF Sport, Thiem was asked whether he feared he might be forced to end his career. He said:

"Absolutely not. The injury is severe and very hard, but on the other hand it is very well researched in the tennis world because it happens so often. Many top players have had this injury. Therefore, even when it happened the second time, the doctor immediately said that it will take a long time, it's a very unpleasant injury, but every player he has had so far, and that was a lot of them, both in women's and men's tennis, have come back without any subsequent damage. And from then on I was positive that it will be the same for me."

He officially made his comeback at the Marbella challenger where he played one match losing to Cachin in two sets. It was good for him and he enjoyed being back while also showing expected rustiness that will need to be shaken. Unfortunately he won't compete this week in Marrakech as he tested positive one day after his match and he did not produce a negative test in time.