Injury-marred Dominic Thiem picks Novak Djokovic to win 2021 Wimbledon

Injury-marred Dominic Thiem picks Novak Djokovic to win 2021 Wimbledon

Dominic Thiem and Novak Djokovic

World No.5 Dominic Thiem’s season seems to be going from bad to worse. After experiencing a rough start at the Australian Open, the Austrian managed to get back to the ATP tour at the Madrid Masters in May. Later, Thiem was also stunned in the first round at Roland Garros by Spaniard Pablo Andujar.

Just when it appeared that the year things couldn’t go wrong anymore, Thiem suffered a wrist injury while playing the warm-up tournament on grass ahead of Wimbledon. Unfortunately, the injury meant that Thiem had to pull out of this year’s Championship.

Explaining his current situation, the 27-year-old informed Sky Sports that it might take another three weeks for the wrist to recover fully. “I have a small tear in the tendon sheath and also in the capsule around it. The wrist is in a splint for 3 more weeks, I’m also doing therapy. Hopefully, after 3 weeks I can start to move and strengthen the wrist, then later pick up a racket again.”

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Dominic Thiem
Dominic Thiem

Thiem is also the defending champion at the US Open, but given his injury and recovery time, the Austrian sounded pessimistic on his chances of defending his title in New York in August.

“The plan is to wear the splint for 5 weeks and then it’ll be just the same amount of time until I’m ready to compete again. That means for USO it will be very tight. So I can’t guarantee anything. I can’t promise myself that I’ll play there.”

Thiem picks Djokovic to win Wimbledon

Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic

Upon quizzed on who he fancies to win the 2021 Wimbledon, Thiem had little hesitation in picking the World No.1 and reigning Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic. That said, Thiem also spoke about the potential threats. “Novak is the absolute top favourite. Sascha, Medvedev and Berrettini can be dangerous. Never write off Federer. He’s such a legend, such a good player. I’m looking forward to the matches. I’d rather be there but it’s still interesting to watch from a distance.”

Also read: “Most people want the underdog to win” Novak Djokovic reacts after reaching the quarter-finals of the Wimbledon 2021