Dominic Thiem plays down "favorite" talk at Kitzbuhel

WATCH: Thiem gets back on track against Bautista Agut

A couple of weeks ago there wasn't a lot of talk about Dominic Thiem, other than when he was finally going to win a match in his comeback.

Now, he finds himself in the conversation about who's going to win a tournament.

The 28-year-old Austrian is the local favorite this week at the ATP event in Kitzbuhel. But coming in having recently reached the quarterfinals in Bastad and semifinals in Gstaad, he's also among the title favorites—especially following with the withdrawals of top-seeded Matteo Berrettini and Casper Ruud.

But don't tell him that.

"I don't want to be considered the favorite," said Thiem, speaking to press at Kitzbuhel.

Another withdrawal has also led to a change in his first-round opponent, who will now be Alexander Shevchenko—and in his box will be Thiem's former coach, Gunter Bresnik.

"Of course, this makes it special, but it shouldn't affect what happens on court," said Thiem, who says he will concentrate on his own level of play. "I want to put on a good show for the crowds. Paris and the tournaments before that, it wasn't pretty."

Coming back following almost a year away with a wrist injury, the former Grand Slam champ was 0-7 to start his season but credits a recent training block with Andrey Rublev in Barcelona with turning around his fitness.

''I'm almost back at the level I had before my injury during training," said Thiem, who won the 2020 US Open. "There are still a few things left in competition. Still week to week I've improved, and I'm feeling good. The first win, something clicked. I've mentally progressed a lot."

He's also started adding to his schedule. Thiem, along with former Grand Slam finalist Kei Nishikori, has taken a wildcard into the Winston-Salem Open.