"Wrists aren't easy" - Nick Kyrgios applauds Dominic Thiem after Austrian secures Estoril Open 1R win amid resurfacing of old injury

Nick Kyrgios recently applauded Dominic Thiem after his first-round win at the 2024 Estoril Open despite struggling with recurring wrist injuries.

The former World No. 3 missed part of the 2021 season and the entirety of the 2022 season due to a wrist injury he suffered at the 2021 Mallorca Championships.

Recently, Thiem posted a video on his Instagram feed, explaining that he recently began to experience pain from the same injury he suffered three years ago, just before his appearance at the 2024 Szekesfehervar Challenger.

“Unfortunately, a little bit before the Challenger in Hungary, the first tournament back for me, my wrist started to make some issues again.

"I started to have those clicks again which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago. And also this strange feeling came back and yeah it turned to pain in the last weeks and there is a minor inflammation there," Thiem said.

On Monday, Thiem defeated German star Maximilian Marterer in the first round of the Estoril Open 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-4, to earn his first win of the 2024 season on the ATP tour.

Following the match, a fan on X (formerly Twitter) expressed his joy and humorously tweeted about the 30-year-old's victory on April Fools' Day.

“I'm so glad Dominic Thiem winning a tennis match isn't an April Fools joke and is actually reality. 🙏,” he tweeted.

2022 Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios, who has been supportive of Thiem through his injury struggles, replied to the tweet. The former concurred that it's not always easy dealing with a wrist injury and he was happy to see Thiem win.

“Good to see. Wrists aren’t easy!” Nick Kyrgios wrote.

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Dominic Thiem's next opponent at the Estoril Open will be Richard Gasquet

Dominic Thiem at the French Open 2023

After Dominic Thiem's victory at the Estoril Open on Monday, he is set to face Richard Gasquet in the round of 16 on Thursday.

The Austrian began his 2024 season by facing 22-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal (who also returned from injury) in the first round of the Brisbane International, where he was defeated. Thiem also faced an early exit at the hands of Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Australian Open first round. He then competed in three matches on the ATP Challenger Tour, winning one and losing two.

Richard Gasquet, meanwhile, has struggled with form this season, competing in 11 tournaments on both the ATP Tour and the ATP Challenger Tour. His best performance on the Challenger Tour was reaching the final of the Manama Challenger, while on the ATP Tour, his best record was reaching the round of 16 at the Qatar Open.

Dominic Thiem and Richard Gasquet have faced each other five times on the ATP Tour, with the Frenchman winning two of those meetings.