Melbourne, Dec 28 (IANS): Struggling with a wrist injury, Dominic Thiem has pulled out of next month's Australian Open, World number 15 said on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old, who has not played since suffering the injury at the Mallorca Open in June, was unable to defend his US Open title this year. Thiem reached the final at Melbourne Park last year before going on to win his maiden major title US Open.

He will start his 2022 season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina at the end of January.

"I will miss the Australian fans, but I will be back (there) in 2023," he said on Twitter.

"We believe this is the right decision in order to have a good return to competition. For the moment I will remain in Austria for a few more days and then head to practice outdoors and get ready for my first event of the season," he said in a statement.

"After the short holidays, my team and I have assessed all matters and we have decided to make some changes to my initial tournament schedule: I will start the season in South America at the Cordoba Open in Argentina, end of January, and therefore I will not play this year at the Australian Open in Melbourne, a city that I love and where I have great memories of unforgettable matches in front of amazing crowds. I will miss the Australian fans but I will be back in 2023," the statement added.

Earlier, he has also withdrawn from ATP Cup and Sydney Tennis Classic, an ATP 250 event, and Mubadala World Tennis Championship exhibition event in Abu Dhabi, saying that he is not fully recovered from his injury.