CORDOBA, Feb 1 — Austria’s Dominic Thiem has pulled out of his planned comeback from a long injury layoff at the Cordoba Open yesterday because of pain in his hands between his knuckles.

The 2020 US Open champion, who has been out for more than seven months with a wrist injury, had hoped to make his comeback in Argentina this week.

"I’m very sorry but I have to announce that I’m going to pull out of ATP in Cordoba,” Thiem said in a video posted on Twitter ahead of the tournament.

"In the last days I suffered a minor injury between my knuckles, a little strain of my ligaments.

"The positive thing the wrist is perfectly fine but I’m suffering pain in my hands and also lacking of practice. So I have to pull out, I’m very sad but I’m going to come back once I’m 100 percent fit.”

Thiem, who reached the 2020 Australian Open final, said in December his wrist was "in optimal condition” allowing him to practice "normally with a very good intensity”.

The 28-year-old was unable to defend his US Open title last year and also pushed back his expected return until after the Australian Open which finished last weekend.

A two-time French Open runner-up, the Austrian has seen his ranking plummet from a career-high world number three last March, to 37 in the latest ATP rankings. — AFP