Former world number three Dominic Thiem is set to make his return from a serious wrist injury at the Indian Wells Masters next month.
The 28-year-old sustained the issue against Adrian Mannarino in Mallorca during the build-up to last year's Wimbledon and was not ready to compete at the Australian Open in January.
Thiem was due to compete at the Argentina Open but was again forced to withdraw due to knuckle pain, and the Austrian is now targeting a return at Indian Wells, at which point he would have been sidelined for more than eight months.
A statement from the 2020 US Open champion's management team read: "He will look to make his comeback to competition at Indian Wells in March.
Thiem added: "Training in Vienna went well and I'm very happy that my wrist has fully recovered. Unfortunately, I suffered a minor setback in Santiago, which forced me to take a temporary break from training.
"It's never easy to come back after a seven-month break from competition to come back. I'll follow my doctor's advice and after a few days off, I'll start training again next week. I need some time on the pitch before I can make my comeback."
Thiem's only ATP Masters 1000 title so far came at the 2019 Indian Wells tournament, where he defeated Roger Federer 3–6, 6–3, 7–5.
Ben Knapton
