Muristek
Austria’s Dominic Thiem returns the ball to Australia’s Alex De Minaur during their 2021 ATP Tour Madrid Open tennis tournament singles match at the Caja Magica in Madrid May 6, 2021. — AFP pic
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PARIS, March 25 — Injury-plagued Grand Slam title winners Dominic Thiem and Stan Wawrinka will relaunch their careers in a second-tier clay court event in Marbella next week.
Thiem, 28, has been sidelined with a wrist injury suffered in a grass court tournament in the same Spanish city in June.
“I want to start getting contact with the competition after all these months and I believe this is the right way to start,” former world number three Thiem wrote on Instagram.
“It’s been a very, very tough period for me and to go back to competition is what I need. To step on a tennis court and compete is what I have been waiting for so long and as you know I had a lot of set backs.
“I know this will be a slow process of getting back to the top level, but I am ready to work hard and start humble.”
Thiem, who won his only major at the 2020 US Open and is a two-time French Open runner-up, has slumped to 50 in the world during his prolonged absence.
Wawrinka, meanwhile, has not played since the Qatar Open in March, 2021.
The 36-year-old Swiss, a three-time major champion, underwent two surgeries on his left foot last year.
A former world number three, Wawrinka is now down at 232 in the rankings.
The Andalucia Open, a Challenger level event, starts on Monday. — AFP