Dominic Thiem withdraws from ‘Sunshine double,’ aims to return for French Open

Dominic Thiem decided to withdraw from both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Open as he aims to stage a return in time for the Monte Carlo Masters and the French Open.

2020 US Open champion Thiem sustained a wrist injury at last year’s Mallorca Open. As such, the former World number three has now dropped down to 50th in the ATP world rankings.

After having been unable to defend his Flushing Meadows title last year, Thiem had been aiming to make a return at the Abu Dhabi Exhibition event in December.

However he was forced to withdraw and has endured a torrid time since, suffering a number of setbacks that ruled him out of the Australian Open and now the ‘Sunshine Double.’

However, on this occasion, Thiem decided to skip both American events not because of an injury setback, but instead due to feeling more comfortable on clay courts.

This decision comes one week after he shared a video of him and his team training in preparation for the ‘Fifth Grand Slam’.

This withdrawal also means the Austrian icon will have missed ten months worth of action since the Mallorca Open took place last June.

In a video posted to his Instagram account, Thiem said “I had really good practice weeks. The wrist is perfectly fine, the hand is getting better and better but still I decided to pull out of Indian Wells and Miami and to start on the clay court.

“It’s still the surface where I feel most comfortable so I think it’s the perfect time to start there.”

The clay court season begins in April at the Monte Carlo Masters which runs from April 11th to April 17th. This is then followed by the French Open which takes place between May 22nd and June 6th.

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