VIENNA, May 19, 2016

Andreas Haider-Maurer is currently facing the roughest time in his career. The 29-year-old Austrian is still sidelined from the courts with an inflammation on his right heel and announced on Wednesday that he will extend his rest until the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna. The ATP event will be held from 22 to 30 October 2016. The Stadthalle in Vienna is also the place, where Haider-Maurer suffered the injury last year. He played his last match against Kevin Anderson in the opening round.

“It’s really tough for me but I need to be patient right now. I underwent several treatments and spoke to different doctors and physiotherapists in order to accelerate the healing process. Yet, at the moment it’s the best thing not to strain the food in any way. After two days of practice, I was forced to take a break for one day. So I decided to stay patient and will not return to competition before the tournament in Vienna,” Haider-Maurer states in a press release.

The former world number 47 needs a lot of self-discipline. “I feel like playing tennis but since I suffered the injury, I have almost lived a different life. I am not used to be at home for more than 14 days in a row. It has nearly become seven months. It is also mentally pretty tough, in particular during the early eight weeks when I was still on crutches,” he admits.

Dmitry Tursonov and Janko Tipsarevic suffered similar injuries in the past and found their way back on the tour but this is only small comfort to the Austrian.

“I would simply be the wrong decision to compete too early. After one year without playing, I am also allowed to use my protected ranking for 12 tournaments. I also need about six to eight weeks to get competitve again. Vienna in October will be the right time to return.”

Haider-Maurer has dropped to world number 170 in the ATP rankings and will not be able to defend points until October this year. He captured the Challenger title in Meerbusch in 2015.