Dominic Thiem hangs up his racket at Vienna Open, leaves home crown & tennis community teary-eyed

Dominic Thiem has hung up his racket. The former US Open champion played one last at home in Vienna, losing to Luciano Darderi in straight sets, 7-6(8), 6-2. Having already announced his retirement months ago, former number three graced the court one last time, having played an exhibition match against Alexander Zverev a day prior.

Big 3 rivalry

Thiem was one of the few who went toe to toe against the Big 3 (Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic). The Austrian is the second man after Andy Murray to have won at least five matches against each of them. Such was the Big 3’s dominance that Thiem was the first man born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam. Next year, Daniil Medvedev joined him, but Thiem was definitely his generation’s first.

Titles

Considered a clay court specialist, Thiem lived under Nadal’s shadow. He reached two finals at the French Open (2018 and 2019) but failed to lift the trophy, losing to Nadal both times. But Thiem wasn’t a clay court merchant. 6 of his 17 titles came on hard court and grass. In fact, his second biggest and only Masters title came in Indian Wells 2019 where he beat Roger Federer in three sets. He also made the final of the Australian Open in 2020, losing to Novak Djokovic in 5 sets. Of course, he also won his only Slam title on a hard court, the US Open, beating good friend Alexander Zverev in 5 sets at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Injuries

Thiem produced the level of all-time greats, but as is tennis obsession with slams, until his 2020 US Open, he wasn’t considered to be a Hall of Famer. However, he didn’t know what would happen after that. Post his US Open title, Thiem struggled with motivation and then injuries; no one, including him, knew the magnitude of which.

From No. 3, he went outside 300 in the next four years. Thiem never even made the quarterfinal of a Grand Slam and never even reached another final on the ATP tour after the 2020 US Open. His wrist injury meant he was no longer a top-ten player, and Thiem didn’t wish to continue. So at 31, he’s decided to call it quits. The tennis community will miss his thunderous one-handed backhands, amazing gamesmanship, and fighting spirit.