<p>Dominic Thiem said he was satisfied with his level of performance in Tuesday's Australian Open first-round clash with fifth seed Andrey Rublev before an abdominal injury took the wind out of his sails as he crashed to a 6-3 6-4 6-2 defeat.</p>.<p>Thiem broke the Big Three's stranglehold on Grand Slam titles when he won the 2020 US Open but a wrist injury in 2021 sidelined him for months and he has struggled to get back to the same level since.</p>.<p>The 29-year-old Austrian said he was "happy with that performance" against Rublev until he tweaked an abdominal muscle on serve in the second set.</p>.<p>"The sun was - I was in a tough position to serve, so I completely changed the toss and something happened after at the abs or at the ribs," Thiem told reporters.</p>.<p>"It's just a little inflammation or a little strain ... Obviously not the best timing and in the middle of the second set, but it is what it is.</p>.<p>"But honestly, I don't think that even at 100 per cent I'd be able to beat Rublev yet, he is top-five seed here - even in a really fit situation. It would be very, very tough to beat him and with the issue like the abs, it's going to be almost impossible."</p>.<p>Thiem, however, is confident of rediscovering his 2020 form after a difficult season last year when the claycourt specialist struggled to win matches on the second-tier Challenger Tour.</p>.<p>"In the beginning it was way tougher than I expected. Also, I was playing way worse than I was expecting, so it was a tough way back," Thiem said.</p>.<p>"But things changed, especially towards autumn, towards the last tournament of the year. There I was playing pretty decent.</p>.<p>"This tournament doesn't change anything because I just had a really tough opponent."</p>
<p>Dominic Thiem said he was satisfied with his level of performance in Tuesday's Australian Open first-round clash with fifth seed Andrey Rublev before an abdominal injury took the wind out of his sails as he crashed to a 6-3 6-4 6-2 defeat.</p>.<p>Thiem broke the Big Three's stranglehold on Grand Slam titles when he won the 2020 US Open but a wrist injury in 2021 sidelined him for months and he has struggled to get back to the same level since.</p>.<p>The 29-year-old Austrian said he was "happy with that performance" against Rublev until he tweaked an abdominal muscle on serve in the second set.</p>.<p>"The sun was - I was in a tough position to serve, so I completely changed the toss and something happened after at the abs or at the ribs," Thiem told reporters.</p>.<p>"It's just a little inflammation or a little strain ... Obviously not the best timing and in the middle of the second set, but it is what it is.</p>.<p>"But honestly, I don't think that even at 100 per cent I'd be able to beat Rublev yet, he is top-five seed here - even in a really fit situation. It would be very, very tough to beat him and with the issue like the abs, it's going to be almost impossible."</p>.<p>Thiem, however, is confident of rediscovering his 2020 form after a difficult season last year when the claycourt specialist struggled to win matches on the second-tier Challenger Tour.</p>.<p>"In the beginning it was way tougher than I expected. Also, I was playing way worse than I was expecting, so it was a tough way back," Thiem said.</p>.<p>"But things changed, especially towards autumn, towards the last tournament of the year. There I was playing pretty decent.</p>.<p>"This tournament doesn't change anything because I just had a really tough opponent."</p>