Dominic Thiem has received a wild card for the ATP 250 Winston-Salem event, which is set to take place a week before the start of the US Open.

Former world No. 3 Thiem has skipped a lot of the hard court season so far, with his first match on the surface in several months taking place next week at the Canadian Open.

However, the Austrian now has an extra event to help him prepare for the upcoming US Open. As well as competing in Canada and at the Cincinnati Open, he will now also play at the Winston-Salem Open in North Carolina after he was given a wild card for the event.

Things have been difficult on the court for Thiem since he won his first and only Grand Slam title to date at the US Open in 2020.

He was unable to try to defend his major title in 2021 due to being forced to withdraw from a large part of the season with a wrist injury. His problems did not end there though, as two seasons later he has only recorded one win outside of clay courts, where he has a slightly better result of 14 wins in 28 matches.

This has seen his world ranking fall from within the top 5 to outside the top 100, currently sitting at No. 116.

However, this wild card could be a chance to improve on his recent results, as being held just a week before the US Open means that the field generally doesn't contain the strongest players, although the entry list so far does contain some big names such as Borna Coric, Gael Monfils, and Jiri Lehecka.

Thiem is currently in his home country where he is playing at the Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel. He has had a good start to the tournament, winning his opening round against Facundo Bagin 7-6(3), 7-6(6).