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Dominic Thiem acknowledged that he was 'slowly' realizing that his professional career was coming to an end after his struggle with form in the past couple of years. The Austrian bid tennis adieu after he lost his opening-round match at his home tournament, the Vienna Open, against Luciano Darderi.
Thiem enjoyed an illustrious career up until 2020 having reached the World No. 3 in the ATP ranking. He won the 2020 US Open as well as the 2019 Indian Wells Masters.
However, a wrist injury, which he suffered at the 2021 Mallorca championships became a huge impediment in the Austrian's career as he struggled to return to the upper echelons of tennis.
Earlier this year, the 31-year-old broke the hearts of tennis fans when he announced that he would be hanging up the racket after his campaign in his home tournament, the Vienna Open.
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Ahead of his campaign in Vienna, an emotional Dominic Thiem shared that his dream was to finish his career at his home tournament. The Austrian, who won the tournament in 2019, also liked how the tournament was celebrating its Golden Jubilee this year.
“I knew that if my body lets me, I'm going to finish in Vienna,” Thiem said (via tennis.com). “That was always my dream and my goal. I didn't know which year it's going to be, but it's 2024. It’s a very nice coincidence that it's the 50th birthday of the tournament as well."
Thiem said the last couple of years that he spent struggling with his injury and form had made him realize that the tennis chapter of his life was coming to a close. He added:
“I think it helped that I took the decision already in March and that I had the time to prepare. The last two years or so, I saw that I'm not going to be able to come back to the ranking and to the playing level I once had. I knew that slowly, my tennis career is coming to an end. I needed to look for new ways because there's going to be life after tennis.”
"You learn from those during a match and also in life" - Dominic Thiem imparts words of wisdom as he compares the similarities between life and tennis
Continuing his thoughts about tennis, Dominic Thiem talked about how tennis forced an individual to find solutions to the problems they were facing without any outside help. He called this aspect of the sport the 'best thing ever'.
“You start from a very early age to win and to lose alone. To solve solutions only by yourself. You get just really little help by your team in the match. But mostly, you really have to solve the problems alone. The one side is the best thing ever. If you won a close match or if you won a big title, you know that the main part was you. That's just unbelievable feeling," Thiem said (via tennis.com).
He added:
“There are so many ups and downs in a match, just like in life. You cannot avoid to do mistakes. You learn from those during a match and also in life.”
Dominic Thiem lost to Lucian Darderi 6-7(6), 2-6 in the final match of his career.
His career was honored by the tournament organizers in a special farewell ceremony ahead of the ATP 500 event's kick-off. It was attended by the likes of Alexander Zverev, Boris Becker, Frances Tiafoe, Matteo Berrettini, and others.
