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When Dominic Thiem started off the video message he uploaded Wednesday, there was concern from his followers that a retirement announcement was coming. It didn’t help Thiem was wearing a black shirt with a dark backdrop behind him.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case, although the Austrian wanted to clear the air on his current status.

“Omg my heart stopped for a second when I saw this video,” read one comment.

“A BIG SIGH of Relief button,” another one said.

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The 2020 US Open champion had skipped the Sunshine Double, where he would have needed to play qualifying unless wild cards were offered, in favor of two ATP Challenger events on clay. Thiem went just 1-2 across those appearances.

In the clip. the 30-year-old explained that he and father Wolfgang had returned to their old training ways. And unfortunately for Thiem, the process reaggravated the right wrist injury that flared up in 2021 and has proven to be difficult to overcome in his quest to regain the level that once propelled him to the Top 3.

“We started to practice like I did when I was younger with a lot of intensity, a lot of strokes, a lot of hours on the court. Unfortunately, a little bit before the Challenger in Hungary, my wrist started to make some issues again,” Thiem said.

“I started to have those which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago. This strange feeling came back and turned into pain in the last weeks. There’s a minor inflammation there. That’s why I pulled out of the Napoli Challenger.”

Thiem's last title run came when he joined the major winner's club.

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Despite this setback, Thiem is aiming to return to ATP Tour action next week.

“Right now the situation is I’ve turned down the volume a little bit. Chances are good I can make it to Estoril,” he shared. “That’s the plan as well. I want to start playing there again, which is my goal.”

Thiem is currently ranked No. 90 and lost his first two tour-level contests in January to Rafael Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime, the latter going five sets at the Australian Open. He later won a Davis Cup rubber for Austria against Ireland’s Michael Agwi before resuming at the Challenger level this month.