NEW YORK (Reuters) – Dominic Thiem savoured his first Grand Slam match win since 2021 at his happiest hunting ground on Monday, as the injury-plagued former U.S. Open champion downed Kazakh Alexander Bublik to reach the second round.
Thiem broke the Grand Slam stranglehold of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic by winning the 2020 title in New York but a wrist injury the following year sidelined him for months and other niggles meant his ranking slipped to 352nd.
The Austrian, now ranked number 81, has endured a dismal run at the majors since reaching the Australian Open fourth round two years ago and said beating Bublik 6-3 6-2 6-4 felt special.
“Yeah, it was a very good match basically from the first moment on. It’s a pretty special victory, because it’s the first since 2-1/2 years in Grand Slams,” Thiem told reporters.
“I think, I don’t know, six or seven Grand Slams without a match win. So it’s great. Especially here at the U.S. Open with all the past and all the memories I have here.”
Thiem said he had slowly regained full strength in his wrist but rediscovering his confidence proved to be a challenge after his return in March 2022.
“The physical trust is there. Since the injury I’ve played many tournaments. I did many practice sessions. I really also gave a lot of load on the wrist again. It’s completely fine,” said Thiem, who meets American Ben Shelton next.
“The mental side wasn’t easy to restore. Wasn’t doing the same job I was used to before the injury, that wasn’t easy.
“With every success, every match, especially with bigger successes or better weeks like I had in Austria when I played my first finals or also here … it helps a lot on the mental side and to get full trust again in the wrist.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
