World No. 15 Dominic Thiem and Argentine tennis star Diego Schwartzman have been confirmed for Buenos Aires, per Michal Samulski. Thiem, 28, is set to make his fourth appearance on the clay courts of Buenos Aires. Thiem has had lots of success in his past three Buenos Aires appearances as he has two titles at the Argentine ATP 250 event.
Thiem won Buenos Aires in 2016 and 2018, before losing to Schwartzman in the 2019 Buenos Aires semifinal. On the other side, 29-year-old Schwartzman is set to make his ninth main draw appearance in Buenos Aires. Schwartzman ended runner-up in the 2019 Buenos Aires final but finally captured his maiden Buenos Aires title earlier this year.
Thiem suffers a setback
After withdrawing from the Mubadala World Tennis Championships, Thiem also pulled out of the ATP Cup and Sydney. “After speaking to my team, we have decided to return to Austria, instead of flying directly to Australia.
Unfortunately, I caught a cold (and tested negative for COVID-19) while in Dubai and was unable to practice last week. I will therefore not be in the pysical condition required to be able to play the ATP Cup and Sydney ATP 250,” Thiem said in a statement posted on his Twitter account.
“After not competing for the last six months I can’t take the risk of coming back too soon and picking up a further injury. Overall, the time I spent in Dubai was great as I have increased the intensity and level of practice and my wrist is almost at 100 percent.”
Thiem, who hasn’t played since June, is still hoping to play the Australian Open. “My aim is still to play the Australian Open but we will make a final decision about my participation by the end of December,” Thiem added.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to wish my fans, partners and media all the best for the holiday season.”