New life awaits

Dominic Thiem: “I have nothing to regret”

Dominic Thiem

(Bild: AP/Seth Wenig)

Dominic Thiem was satisfied after his last Grand Slam match: "I have no regrets." The anticipation of a new life is great, but he will miss the "elation after big wins".

One of the greatest Grand Slam careers of the recent past came to an end at the US Open. That's not looking at it through red-white-red glasses, it's the facts. Of all active tennis players, only Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Stan Wawrinka and Daniil Medvedev have more Grand Slam successes to their name than Dominic Thiem.

The triumph at the 2020 US Open stands above all, when the Lichtenwörth native became the first player not named Nadal, Djokovic or Federer to win a major in four years. Thiem had previously only failed to reach the final of a Grand Slam three times. In 2018 and 2019 at the French Open against record winner Nadal. Thiem came even closer in the 2020 Australian Open final, when he forced Novak Djokovic to play five sets, but ultimately only a break decided the match in the Serb's favor.

Congratulations from Djokovic too
Even the greatest players feared Thiem, who beat Djokovic once at the French Open and only had a narrowly negative record of 5:7 against the Grand Slam record winner. Djokovic tipped his hat to Thiem after his opening victory over Radu Albot at the US Open: "I congratulate him on a great Grand Slam career. He is respected and admired by all his colleagues. It's unfortunate that this injury stopped him."

It remains one of the great "what ifs" of tennis, had Thiem not injured his wrist. He was only able to take part in 37 Grand Slams, compared to Djokovic, who is currently playing his 76th Grand Slam in New York.

You can't compare that with anything else
Thiem has made peace with this outcome to his career. "I've been happy since my decision to retire. Now a new life begins," he admitted after his 4:6, 2:6, 2:6 opening defeat to Ben Shelton. He is happy with his overall Grand Slam record. "I didn't think it would be so successful. I have no regrets." However, he will miss one thing: "The elation after winning a really big match. You can't compare it to anything else."