The search for glory and the disappointment after finding it; the exciting day to day exploring your own and other people’s limits until you reach the top and feel an abysmal emptiness. This is how the career of <a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/who-will-be-the-tennis-players-who-will-open-the-cordoba-open-2022-tennis/” title=”Who will be the tennis players who will open the Córdoba Open 2022 – Tennis”>Dominic Thiema player who leaves at 31 years old satisfied and proud with what he has done, valuing the magic of his achievements much more than the misfortune that deprives us of his talent before its time.
A boy falls in love with tennis and dominates all his rivals, until someone explains to him that he is going to stop being the best for a few years because he needs to change his backhand. You will go from playing with two hands to wielding this blow with one. It will take time to adapt and, when it begins to see the light, an exorbitant growth in the summer of the age of 16 generates physical problems, anatomical decompensations and doubts. Dominic Thiem she has lived in a constant reboot, until the computer in her mind crashed, exhausted from reinventing herself to challenge a glory that was conquered, but not enjoyed.
He says that Thiem could be seen running through the Austrian forests when the elite were already appearing, following military routines consisting of transporting logs between paths full of obstacles, guiding himself by the light of the moon and understanding that only then could he achieve his dreams. Nicknamed the Prince of clay, he did not witness a hint of abdication in the Supreme King, against whom he clashed in two Roland Garros finals, but whom he was able to overthrow on the hard court.
– Thiem spent 260 weeks in the top-10, and 26 of them as 3 in the world
Few players have dared to question the dominance of the Big 3 and one of them has been Thiem. Favorable balance against Federer, capable of beating Nadal on 6 occasions and Djokovic on 5 occasions, many of them in advanced rounds of the most important tournaments in the world, champion of Masters 1000 (Indian Wells), Grand Slam (US Open) and twice finals of the ATP Finals. His conversion from being a clay-court specialist to becoming an all-rounder capable of overwhelming anyone is worthy of a movie.
We will never forget that forehand with which he seemed to generate an earthquake on the planet, that way of passing his hand forward while his body swayed to the sound of his wrist, giving his ball a topspin worthy of a Nadal heir. Those screams with which he tore the air as much as his dizzying one-handed backhand punches did, those serves with lethal effect that displaced his rival as if he were a puppet.
– Accumulate 17 titles won and 12 finals lost
Thiem took his body and mind beyond reasonable limits, he became a rock capable of breaking the confidence of the best in history in decisive sets (8-3 in favor against the entire Big 3) and in tiebreaks. (14-7 against Roger, Rafa and Novak). He found the well-deserved prize in that US Open 2020, stripped of the public and conditioned by anti-Covid measures, and he realized that he had been fighting all his life for something that did not make him happy, and that what really gave him happiness was that very process. stressful pursuit of excellence, impossible to repeat with an empty energy tank.
As life would have it, when he was regaining his motivation, his body did not accompany his mind and raised a white flag asking for mercy in the most cruel way. The broken wrist suffered in Mallorca 2021 was the culmination of the career of a giant, who tried to come back on his own, but came across harsh reality. Nothing was like before. He leaves leaving a legacy of unforgettable games, a very sporting attitude and impeccable competitive honor. Dominic Thiem is leaving us, but we will never be able to forget him.
