Vienna, Dec 14 Austria's Dominic Thiem on Tuesday pulled out of the upcoming Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, saying that he is yet not fully recovered from his injury.
After suffering a wrist injury at the Mallorca Open in June, the former US Open champion hasn't played and he was eyeing a comeback through the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, set to be held later this week.
"I was looking forward to making my return to competition at Abu Dhabi but I feel that I am yet not ready to compete at the highest level," Thiem said in a statement on Twitter.
"It's disappointing to not take part this year but I need to continue my preparation for the upcoming season. I truly hope to return to the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in the future," he added.
It would have been Thiem's third career appearance at the Abu Dhabi exhibition event, having been a semi-finalist in 2017 and quarter-finalist in 2018.
He was set to kick off his campaign in Abu Dhabi with a quarter-final match against Andy Murray on Thursday, with the winner to play Nadal in the semi-finals on Friday.
"I was keen to find the right opportunity to make my return to the court and the Mubadala World Tennis Championship comes at a great time. The Championship offers the perfect environment to continue my comeback and play against the top guys on tour," Thiem had told MubadalaWTC.com.
Notably, Britain's US Open champion Emma Raducanu was also forced to pull out of the event on Monday after testing positive for COVID-19.
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