Thiem jokes:
“That’s when I knew it was time to stop”
Dominic Thiem's impressive tennis career has come to an end. The 31-year-old from Lower Austria reviewed his match against Italy's Luciano Darderi (6:7(6), 2:6) and joked about one rally: "That's when I knew it was time to stop."
He has left the stage that meant the world to him for decades. Dominic Thiem lost his last professional match on Tuesday, his 563rd on the ATP Tour and well over a thousand including all his youth matches, in the Wiener Stadthalle after an appealing performance. He didn't literally hang up his racket, but it went straight into a display case - as the latest exhibit in the current tennis exhibition at the Erste Bank Open.
"The whole trip was a dream, so I really want the evening to be yours," said Thiem to the 9,800 fans after his exit. Before that, the great atmosphere had driven him to a stronger performance than expected, especially in the first set against Luciano Darderi. "I couldn't have imagined it any better," he said after the 6:7(6),2:6.
The only second Grand Slam singles winner from Austria after Thomas Muster said goodbye with an appeal to the fans. "Tennis has experienced a huge upswing in Austria. Keep it up so that this wonderful sport remains as present as it is, that's my request to you."
Which lost match Thiem would like to play again
Looking back on his career, Thiem later recounted one or two anecdotes and he didn't have to think long about which lost match he would like to play again: it wasn't the narrow defeat to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open final or the five-set thriller against Rafael Nadal in the 2018 US Open quarter-finals. "It was more the one against Del Potro in New York in 2017, there's no excuse for me losing that one in ten times. That would have been followed by a quarter-final against Federer. I've never played Roger at a Grand Slam tournament, I missed that chance back then."
"It's the right time to stop"
He will definitely miss the energy from the crowd, "on the other hand, I also thought to myself once, in the middle of the second set, when a forehand didn't even make it to the net: It's the right time to stop," laughs the 31-year-old.
Thiem's best match
Thiem considers his best match to be one at the 2019 ATP Finals, when he thought about going home on the morning of his match against Novak Djokovic because he was so cold. "I woke up sick, I didn't know for ages whether I would be able to play. But it was precisely my physical condition that helped me to take a much more relaxed approach to the match. My level was really good back then, the combination of these two things led to this match."
Thiem has made ends meet. With 30.33 million dollars in prize money alone and tens of millions in sponsorship money, he no longer has to work. But his love of tennis has stayed with him, he assured us late at night in the catacombs of the Stadthalle. That's why one of his goals is to work at his father Wolfgang Thiem's tennis academy. "That's 100 percent certain, but I don't see myself on the court. There are others who are much better. But there are things, especially when making the step from junior to professional and then throughout your entire professional career. I've built up an incredible wealth of experience over the last 15 years. I believe that I can be extremely helpful to many players."
Perhaps one day he will also be able to help a potential successor. The gap he leaves behind in Austrian tennis is enormous. "You can see in Kitzbühel and here that the sport is very popular at the moment. I really hope that it doesn't flatten out until the next Austrian is at the top." Thiem specifically addressed top talent Joel Schwärzler. "Hopefully it won't take long with Joel. It will probably take one, two or three years."
"Knee hurts, back hurts, ..."
Thiem has not only left his mark on the tennis world with 17 tournament wins, the 2020 US Open title and three other major finals. The enormous strains of top-class sport have also left their mark on Thiem. "Apart from my wrist, which isn't in perfect condition, my two knees hurt, my back hurts from time to time and there's a lot of edema in my ankles and balls of my feet, which really hurts. Once I'm warm, I'll be fine, but it will take some time until then."
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