Thiem is saying goodbye to tennis at just 31 years old

From triumph to depression

At the US Open 2020, Thiem immortalized himself as Grand Slam champion – and not Zverev. But the title is not just a blessing for him. Now there is a new edition – for a special occasion.

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Alexander Zverev‘s career could have taken a different turn. If, yes if, in this exciting and bizarre US Open final, his tennis buddy is at the end of the twists and turns Dominic Thiem would have triumphed. On a memorable September 13, 2020, it was the Lower Austrian who screwed up Zverev’s New York coup. Thiem himself was at the peak of his tennis career, which he never came close to again. A good four years later he quit. At (only) 31 years old.

As of Friday, the Grand Slam winner will be taking part in a show event in Frankfurt am Main, the Ultimate Tennis Showdown. In Vienna on Sunday (7:00 p.m.) Thiem will revive the memories of the US Open final in an exhibition set against Zverev. He then competes in the Vienna ATP tournament. If he loses, his farewell to tennis will be final. “He will be remembered,” said Superstar Novak Djokovic.

The hole after the great triumph in New York

Thiem will be remembered not only as the US Open winner in 2020, but also as the French Open finalist in 2018 and 2019. You can remember a tennis professional who has since been considered a possible clay court successor for exceptional artists Rafael Nadal was traded. Now he is breaking up with the Spaniard (38) a month before. The new generation with the leaders Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has long since passed him by with their extra class.

Thiem had his best year in 2020. At the beginning of the year he was close to an Australian Open final coup over Melbourne dominator Djokovic. He was number three in the world – and can rightly say for himself: “2020 stands above everything and above everything else in my tennis career.”

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But it was also the point for him after things stopped getting better. New York was his fourth and final Grand Slam final. A few months later he fell into a mental hole during the Corona period. “If you spend your whole life chasing your big goal, subordinate everything to it and then achieve it, things won’t be the same for a while,” he once explained.

He is taking early retirement from tennis in particular because of the long-term wrist injury he sustained in 2021. “I have the feeling that the injury happened when I came back in a very good mental state. Then the feeling, especially on the forehand, didn’t come back as before,” explained Thiem. It was difficult for the head. “Of course, I also had to struggle mentally because it was very difficult to accept it.”

Thiem never reached his world-class level again

The Austrian had to take a long break, lost frequently and never reached his world-class level again. Thiem has not been in the top ten of the world rankings for a long time. Four years after the success over Zverev, he has fallen far back to 289th place.

“It’s really unfortunate that a player of his caliber, who was a top three or top five player for years, had to suffer a wrist injury that really bothered him,” Djokovic said. “He wasn’t the same player after that.”

In the final of the US Open four years ago, Zverev was already leading 6:2, 6:4, 1:0 after a break in the third set. Thiem didn’t succeed at first, but a little later he equalized the set. The drama culminated in the fifth movement. Zverev led 5:3 and served to win the title. But he failed. Only the tiebreak brought the decision. After an ups and down of emotions, Zverev had to congratulate his tennis friend. And is still chasing his first Grand Slam title.

Thiem will go down in history as one of the most successful tennis players in Austria. He said he would also be “very happy and relieved” when it was over. “I feel so young anyway, but I think the wrist is about seventy years old, not 31.” (Kristina Puck, dpa/edited by lh)

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