The expected retirement of grand slam champion Dominic Thiem will serve as a warning to Nick Kyrgios of the tough path still ahead of him, with the pair sharing eerie similarities in their injury struggles.
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Thiem has been reported to be eyeing retirement following the Vienna Open in his native Austria in October after a difficult run on tour in recent years due to injuries.
The 30-year-old suffered a knee injury in early 2021, not long after a career-best season in 2020, when he reached a peak ranking of world No.3, and claimed his greatest victory, the 2020 US Open.
Then in June, 2021 Thiem copped a wrist injury which proved to be the biggest hurdle of his tennis career, much like what Kyrgios is facing now as he attempts to make a comeback nearly a year after his last competitive match on tour.
After Thiem's wrist injury three years ago - which are notoriously difficult to recover from - he battled to achieve the same results he previously had, and wasn't able to tentatively return from the wrist setback until March 2022.
Not until last August was he able to finally build some form and crack back into the top 100, only for things to fall apart again in March this year when Thiem found himself sidelined once more having aggravated his niggling wrist injury.
Similarly to Thiem, Canberra product Kyrgios is being forced to be patient on the comeback trail returning from his lingering wrist injury which followed a knee issue before that.
Currently back in his hometown hitting the court and gym and uploading video updates of his training to social media, Kyrgios has pencilled in a return later this year at the 'Ultimate Tennis Showdown' event in New York in August.
He has left the door open to delay that comeback, though, saying earlier this week on a podcast if he didn't return later this year, he'd be aiming for the "Australian Open at the start of next year."
Kyrgios is only a year younger than Thiem, and has said he never thought he'd play beyond 30. That leaves a very small window for the 29-year-old to make the most of whatever tennis he can manage in that timeframe.
But Thiem certainly presents a cautionary tale of the difficulties that may still await Kyrgios as he tries to overcome his wrist issues. Though he's back on court now, Thiem's wrist pain persists years after the injury first emerged.
"I'm not the player of 2020 anymore," the Austrian wrote on Instagram last month.
"I have to deal with the current situation, with the fact that my wrist doesn't give me the strength it used to.
"I have to be honest with myself. The pain is a lot less compared to the last few weeks, but like I said, I haven't regained my full strength."
Regaining wrist strength and flexibility has been the main focus for Kyrgios and his physio Will Maher.
Unlike Thiem, they've opted to take a more patient route as Kyrgios also recovered from surgery on the wrist nine months ago.
"He told me, 'I'm not going to rush it. I'm going to do everything I can to get right and when I feel ready, I'm going to play'," Maher told The Canberra Times in February.
"He seems very committed and the amount of work he's putting in the moment, it's outrageous."
"He had a super stiff and very weak wrist," Maher said.
"I've been able to incorporate basketball into his rehab now, so dribbling the basketball and shooting has been the best way to get his wrist moving.
"You can't put someone back into tennis too soon with Nick's technique, who is very wristy, with a lot of topspin and flick with his service action. If we put him back before he has that right, he'll compensate and hurt something else."