World No. 4 Dominic Thiem has remained away from the ATP Men’s Tour for some time. After registering a string of poor performances during the initial stages of the season, the Austrian athlete has chosen not to compete and in the meantime is concentrating on regrouping himself.

Recently, the Austrian star reflected on his early exit from the Australian Open this year. Although Dominic Thiem didn’t enjoy much of the crowd support in his match against homeboy Nick Kyrgios, he was thrilled to be part of such a high-octane tennis match. He was down two sets and fought against all odds to turn the match in his favor.

The 27-year-old spoke about his experience and stated, “It was a lot of effort for relatively little income. I’m playing one of the most memorable matches in my life against local hero Kyrgios, I’m getting 2-0 down. The atmosphere in Melbourne was amazing, even though people didn’t stand by me.”

(Quotes translated using Google translate)

Dominic Thiem found it tough to adjust to unfavorable conditions

After that match, there was a lockdown for five days due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases. Consequently, Thiem was deprived of the facilities at the Australian Open, which had a negative effect on him. In a couple of days, he was up against Grigor Dimitrov and found it difficult to adjust to the soaring temperatures.

The Austrian player revealed more and added, “Suddenly there was lockdown. I came into the locker room late at night, sweaty, and the facility was evacuated in the meantime – like a nuclear accident. The day after next against Dimitrov there was extreme midday heat in the solitude. I didn’t manage to push that through, to deal with the situation.”

(Quotes have been translated via Google)

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Thiem has not featured in any event since his early loss at the Dubai Tennis Championships. He was scheduled to play in the ATP Serbia Open in Belgrade but pulled out before the event took off. He intends to compete next week at the ATP Madrid Masters 2021.