Dominic Thiem (Wiener Neustadt, Austria; 30 years old) announced this Friday that he will retire from tennis at the end of this season due to his serious injury to his right wrist. The Austrian (right-handed), a formidable player with a wonderful and very strong one-handed backhand, won the US Open in 2020 and made two finals at Roland Garros (2019 and 2018) and one at the Australian Open (2020). He was number three in the world—his best ranking— in an era when the Big Three — Nadal, Djokovic and Federer — still won almost every major title. As Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka had done before, Thiem – now down to 117th in the world – knocked down the three giants repeatedly and emerged as one of the few tennis players who could stand up to the hegemony of the Spaniard, the Serbian and the Swiss to succeed them on the throne.
“I’m going to finish my career at the end of this season. There are several reasons behind it. The first, of course, my doll, which is not how it should be, and is not how I would like it to be. The second reason is my internal feeling, I have been thinking about this decision for a long time,” Thiem explained in a message on his Instagram account.
His physical problems began in 2021, after winning the US Open in 2020, the year of the pandemic. Nadal and Federer did not go to New York, but Djokovic did, who was disqualified in the round of 16 for hitting a line judge with a ball. The Austrian had a fantastic tournament and reached the last step having lost only one set in the third round against the Croatian Marin Cilic. In the final he came back from 2-0 down against the German Alexander Zverev to finally win his first major after having been close before on three occasions. “I had given everything to achieve that goal (winning a major), for quite some time I had exceeded my limits, both physically and mentally. I think it’s normal that if you spend a few weeks over your limits, you feel empty afterwards. That’s what happened to me,” the Austrian said in an interview with EL PAÍS in May 2021 in which he explained his feelings after winning the US Open.
On the clay court of Paris, Thiem fought Nadal in two finals. In the first, in 2018, he did not scratch a set even though he had already won three matches on clay against the best player in history on this surface. In the second, in 2019, he stood up much more to her. He eliminated Djokovic in the semifinals in five sets and stole the second set from the Spaniard with a very high level of tennis.
Although at first his best results came on sand – he also made two finals in Madrid – the Austrian was much more than a earthling and he triumphed on cement: beyond the US Open, he knocked down Federer in 2019 in the final of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells – the second category of tournaments after the Grand Slams -, he reached the last step of the WTA Finals twice – he fell against Tsitsipas (2019) and Medvedev (2020)—and put Nole on the ropes in the final of the Australian Open in 2020. After losing the first set, Thiem took the next two and forced the Serbian to come back in the match.
Along with Andy Murray, Thiem became the only player with at least five wins against each of the members of the Big Three. With Federer he achieved a positive face-to-face (5-2), Nadal was knocked down six times (10-6 for the Balearic on aggregate) and Djokovic another five (7-5 for the Balkan).
His career will end without conquering Roland Garros, one of his goals for years – he himself said in 2021 that it was his main goal – and for which he seemed to be the great one as soon as Nadal slowed down a little due to the power of his forehand and his backhand. The Austrian, who has been trying to rebuild his career in the elite for two years and this 2024 He has trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy, He had already warned last January that this course was going to be his last opportunity to recover his best level and climb the ranking. However, in none of the important tournaments he has played so far has he managed to take off: in Australia he fell in the first round, the same as in the Maters 1000 in Monte Carlo, and in Madrid he could only add one victory (this season he has eight defeats and six wins).
“I have thought a lot about my entire journey as a tennis player, which has been incredible: I was successful, I won trophies that I had never dreamed of, so the journey has been incredible, with its ups and downs. “It has been an incredible experience for which I am very grateful, but I have come to the conclusion that this decision to end my career is the right one,” said Thiem, who will leave the racket at the end of 2024 — he has not yet specified in what. tournament will say goodbye—after a fantastic journey and a one-handed backhand that all tennis fans will remember for decades: a powerful and beautiful shot that even on clay could combat on equal terms with Nadal’s forehand.
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