Dominic Thiem‘s list of successes is long, and yet many critics have forgotten it after his wrist injury and his comeback attempts, which were accompanied by few highlights.
Thiem became only the second Austrian after Thomas Muster to become a Grand Slam singles winner at the US Open in 2020. He appeared in three other major finals and twice in the final of the ATP Finals and won 17 tournaments.
Now Thiem is putting the racket in the corner in the Wiener Stadthalle at the age of 31.
This step may also feel like a relief for him. Because, similar to ski jumping star Gregor Schlierenzauer, he never found his way back to the top after a low – especially after the injury he suffered on June 22, 2021 on Mallorca.
US Open title is a blessing and a curse
Curiously, the US Open triumph in 2020 was both a blessing and a curse for Thiem. Because with the five-set victory over Alexander Zverev after being 0-2 sets down, he had achieved his big goal. And not, as everyone expected, in Roland Garros, where he had previously been in the final twice and was considered the “crown prince” of clay court king Rafael Nadal, but in Flushing Meadows.
On the largest possible tennis stage in the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and yet unfortunately in front of empty stands in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The five most legendary Thiem matches at the US Open
Thiem had hoped for relief and more “looseness” from this. However, he later admitted that the fire had “gone out” after the first major trophy, at least for the time being.
“There are players who are immediately fired up to win the next Grand Slam title. It wasn’t like that for me, I’m a different guy. It took me a while to accept that.” said Thiem in March 2023.
After the high came the fall
At the time, no one could even imagine that the title in Flushing Meadows would be his last and that he would only reach two finals after that. At the end of 2020, Thiem caused a sensation at the ATP Finals for the best eight players of the year with victories over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and then, like the year before, narrowly lost in the final. The tennis throne, i.e. first place in the ranking, did not seem impossible at the time.
But things hadn’t gone as planned in 2021 even before the fatal injury. A semi-final in Madrid was outstanding. In Melbourne, as last year’s finalist, he was eliminated in the round of 16, and at the French Open he even lost in the first round.
The big physical setback followed on Mallorca. Only after 280 days did Thiem return to a Challenger in Marbella in March 2022. A series of seven defeats started there, followed by a fall back to world ranking position 352 (June 13, 2022). Thiem reached the semifinals in Gstaad, Gijon and Antwerp. He made it to number 100 for one week that year.
The “trembling” about taking part in the main competitions was then omnipresent for Thiem. In 2023, reaching the Kitzbühel final and staying reasonably stable in the top 100 were the highlight, but Thiem was never supposed to climb higher than 72nd place again. At the end of the year he was only 98 again.
Again pain for Thiem
At the end of January this year, the understandable but surprising announcement came at Attersee that if the stagnation continued, he was thinking of hanging up his bat.
The goal for 2024 was top 50, but this soon became unattainable. By May he had still not succeeded in exploiting the performance and was falling further and further back in the rankings. Even at Challenger level, it wasn’t enough to win two games in a row.
At the end of March, Thiem made it public that his right wrist was causing him pain again. The wrist in which he suffered a tear in the tendon sheath and the associated joint capsule on Mallorca in June 2021. “This strange feeling in my wrist has come back, coupled with slight pain,” he said.
Thiem had already separated from coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh immediately after the Australian Open and returned under the wing of his father Wolfgang. His manager since February 2023 has been his younger brother Moritz.
This intensive family involvement as well as the way he deals with his entourage, as well as some unfortunate separations, such as from long-term coach Günter Bresnik, repeatedly caused criticism. The fact that the comparatively inexperienced brother took over the manager’s position also caused a shake of heads in the tennis circus.
In concert with the greats
What remains, in addition to the many beautiful moments for tennis fans, is also a bitter aftertaste, because Dominic Thiem’s potential was even greater.
His outstanding aesthetics, the one-handed backhand as his trademark, and the actually stronger forehand with enormous spin speeds also drove very big opponents such as Roger Federer (record: 5:2 wins), Rafael Nadal (6:10) and Novak Djokovic (5: 7) to despair. Along with Andy Murray, Thiem is the only player with at least five wins against the “big three”.
Alongside Thomas Muster (44 titles including French Open victory and number 1 in the world), Thiem has entered the history books as the great of domestic sport – and in a world sport. In 2020, Thiem was named “Austria’s Athlete of the Year”. He remained in the top ten for almost five and a half years and was in third place for almost a year.
The meticulous worker for a long time, who also won a Masters 1000 tournament in Indian Wells in 2019, did not deserve the unpleasant end to his career, nor did he deserve the hateful comments on social networks. In 2019 he became the first Austrian to achieve the Kitzbühel/Vienna title double. And at the beginning of 2020 he almost celebrated his first major victory in Melbourne, but lost to a certain Novak Djokovic after leading the set 2-1.
A humble “superstar”
Thiem lived up to all the pre-teen laurels. Coach, mentor and manager Günter Bresnik laid the foundation for this from the age of eight.
Bresnik turned the rough diamond Thiem, who had dominated the youth scene in his early days, into a sporting gem. Also because he broke the habit of using the two-handed backhand.
“The guy never once asked me when training was over,” Bresnik once said. This attitude, but also the great financial and time commitment of the entire Thiem family, were important building blocks for success.
Thiem was and is very popular on the ATP tour because of his modesty, good manners and friendliness. Even Roger Federer called him a “superstar” at the 2019 French Open. He will also be remembered as this in Austria’s sports annals when he says his final goodbye these days in the town hall, where his ATP career really began with his victory over Thomas Muster in 2011.
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