Dominic Thiem is now looking forward to many things, especially one thing: not having to pack his bags anymore. “I loved playing on the tour,” he said, “but to be honest, I always enjoyed being at home and living a normal life.” He has plans: he is interested in the topic of sustainability, his father runs a tennis academy and he wants to get involved there. Thiem seemed cheerful, relaxed, he has long since become a realist. After his physical ailments, that is no surprise, and that is why he can immediately say without regret what he will miss most in his future without tennis: “That feeling after I have won a great match. It is incomparable to anything else.”
It was known that Thiem would end his career in the autumn, at the home tournament in Vienna. Before that, he will play at the UTS show event in Frankfurt. In New York, he has now said goodbye to the stage on which he achieved his greatest success: in 2020, the Austrian from Wiener Neustadt, who works more than he plays, won the US Open in a grueling final against Alexander Zverev, who had already served to victory. The positively crazy Thomas Muster was the only Austrian to have won a Grand Slam singles title before him, in 1995 at the French Open. A complicated injury to his right wrist, his hitting arm, forced Thiem to make a decision in March: There is no point in being on the court anymore.
Of course, Thiem was a hero in sports-mad Austria and the subject of daily reports, and he always enjoyed special respect on the global tour too. “He’s such a nice guy, a great player,” Ben Shelton said on Monday, but he still beat Thiem 6:4, 6:2, 6:2 in the first round of the US Open. The American paid tribute to Thiem on behalf of so many. He was sorry to see “how he had to go through so many injuries.” Thiem taught him to get up. And Thiem’s fate made him aware of the transience of success. “Tennis is not forever.”
Thiem, guided and drilled by the legendary trainer Günter Bresnik, who later wrote the book “The Dominic Thiem Method”, was the first of the new generation to be able to stand up to the kings of his sport. His trademark: the straight one-handed backhand whip. He defeated Rafael Nadal six times (6:10), Roger Federer (5:2) and Novak Djokovic (5:7) five times each. In 2018 and 2019 he reached the final of the French Open, where he lost both times to Nadal. In 2020 there was another big final, Djokovic won the Australian Open.
The US Open gave him a send-off like an American. Thiem received a wildcard, was allowed to play in the huge Arthur Ashe Stadium, received a present and was interviewed. He is at peace with himself, even though he is only 30: “I never expected my career to be so successful,” said Thiem, stressing: “I don’t regret anything and I’m fine with it.”
