Thiem thanks wildcard in the main competition of the Australian Open

And so the organizers honored Tim’s comeback attempt over the past year. “Tim showed encouraging signs as he returned to the tour after injuring his wrist,” AO’s organizers wrote on their website. From the 352nd position, Thiem worked his way back up to his current position of 102nd, meanwhile even reaching the 100th rank. At the ATP level, he was a semi-finalist in Gstaad, Gijon and Antwerp. At the Grand Slam competitions in Paris and New York, he failed in the first round.

Anyway, Tim is sure to get prize money of $106,250 Australian dollars (€67,000) in Melbourne. The previous year, the 2020 US Open winner missed due to an injury, and in 2021 he had to concede defeat to Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 16. In 2020, only great leader Novak Djokovic prevented Thiem with a five-set victory in the final.

Before Thiem celebrates his return to Melbourne, he still plays in the ATP 250 Championships in Adelaide, but Lichtenwörther has to qualify there. Already on Saturday night (match four after 0.30 am CET) he meets 25-year-old South Korean Kwon Sun-woo (ATP 83), the number one qualifier, for the first time in his career in the first round.

Austria will certainly be represented in the women’s singles main draw at the Australian Open. Austria’s number one, Julia Graber of Vorarlberg, made it into the entry list as number 83 in the WTA rankings. Qualification for the first major of the year begins January 11, with the major competitions starting five days later.