Dominic Thiem retired from tennis on Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. The 31-year-old, who has been plagued by wrist problems since 2021, lost to Lucian Darderi 7-6(6), 6-2 in the first round.
Thiem was especially competitive in the opening set, when he led 4-2 and eventually by 5-2 in the tiebreaker. But he failed to convert set point at 6-5 and the flashes of brilliance that Thiem showed in the first were few and far between in the second.
“I really wanted to have some of those signature shots today, so I could show them to the fans one last time as a professional player,” the former world No. 3 commented. “It was very important (to me), and I think people liked it.”
There was a lot to like about Thiem’s career when he was in his prime. The Austrian won the 2020 U.S. Open and the 2019 Indian Wells Masters among his 17 titles. He was also twice a champion in front of the home crowd, both times in 2019–on the red clay of Kitzbuhel and at this same Vienna tournament.
“It’s a mix of emotions right now,” Thiem said in an interview with tennis.com. “Of course I’m very sad, because today the whole Austrian crowd showed me all the emotions and all the energy. I will miss that definitely. But there is also some relief, because in the past weeks and months I was also thinking a lot about how this last match and last week of play was going to look like. Now I’m through that, so I’m relieved. Then, of course, I’m still very emotional from all these years of playing tennis…. So, I still need to process everything–but I’m very happy and I hope the fans are, as well.”
In addition to his U.S. Open triumph, Thiem will be remembered for his success against the Big 3 of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. He was 5-2 against Federer, 6-10 against Nadal (6-6 outside of the French Open), and 5-7 against Djokovic. Thiem finished runner-up to Nadal twice at Roland Garros.
“The privilege of playing in the same era [as] the Big Three, I’m very happy about it. I’m really proud and happy that I was in the same era like them.”
a great career that could have been greater