It has been greater than 9 months since we final noticed Dominic Thiem on court docket. The Austrian star suffered a proper wrist damage through the grass-court swing final yr and has been combating to return to motion ever since.

That lengthy wait is lastly over. On Thursday, the Austrian introduced that he’ll take a wild card into the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open, an ATP Challenger Tour occasion in Marbella, Spain. The Challenger 125-level event will begin on Monday.

“I wish to begin getting contact with the competitors in any case these months and I consider that is the fitting option to begin,” mentioned Thiem on Instagram. “It has been a really, very robust interval for me and to return to competitors is what I’ve been ready for thus lengthy and as you realize I had a number of setbacks. I do know this can be a gradual technique of getting again to the highest stage, however I’m able to work arduous and begin humble.”

Thiem joins fellow former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka as essential draw wild playing cards. The event revealed Wawrinka’s participation on Monday. It marks the primary time that two former High 3 gamers will compete on the similar Challenger occasion.

Thiem was final seen on the Mallorca Championships in June, when he retired from his first-round match in opposition to Adrian Mannarino with the wrist damage. Wawrinka, in the meantime, suffered a foot damage in March 2021 and has not performed for the reason that Qatar ExxonMobil Open.

Hello everybody, I wished to let you realize that I can be enjoying this upcoming week a event in Marbella, Spain. I wish to begin getting contact with the competitors in any case these months and I consider that is the fitting option to begin.

Full assertion:https://t.co/RADV7mgBFU pic.twitter.com/1Tapwgpi69

— Dominic Thiem (@domithiem) March 24, 2022