However, due to his protected ranking, the Lower Austrian is sure to compete in the most important tournaments.
On February 17, 2014, Thiem was among the top 100 professionals for the first time, just five months later he was already in the top 50. The 28-year-old was always in the top ten for more than five years, eleven months until the end of October 2021 the 2020 US Open winner was consistently third.
The wrist injury suffered at the end of June 2021 and the long rehabilitation threw Austria’s star players back on the ATP tour. This February he slipped out of the top 50 and after the first-round defeat in Belgrade when he came back in an ATP250 tournament, Thiem will only appear in 93rd place next Monday. The 50 percent of the points from the victory in Barcelona 2019 – i.e. 250 of his current total of 975 points – are excluded from the evaluation thanks to the Corona regulation.
Thiem has a chance to score next week in Estoril (ATP250 tournament). After that, if he keeps his promise to play every week until the French Open (from May 22nd), he should also play at the Masters1000 tournament in Madrid from May 1st. There he has no less than 360 points to defend from the 2021 semifinals. Even a semi-final in Estoril and a quarter-final in Madrid would only bring in 270 points – probably not enough to prevent falling out of the top 100 in the rankings on May 9th.
But the ranking list is currently irrelevant for Thiem anyway – he plans to return to the circle of the best in small steps. Playing for titles again is the goal for the coming year. “I hope that in 2023 I can secure the place among the top players that I had in the past,” Thiem said before the Belgrade tournament. He wants to be in top form again by the French Open in 2023 and fight for victory there.
Source: Nachrichten
