A great tennis career comes to an end in Vienna on Tuesday evening. Dominic Thiem thanks his fans with a strong final performance.
"It was incredibly nice to play today, just like the last few years," Dominic Thiem thanked the fans. "I tried to play well and got a few percent out of the first set." The 31-year-old from Lower Austria left with a defeat, but an honorable one. He lost to the Italian Luciano Darderi (ATP 42) 6:7 (6:8), 2:6 in just over one and a half hours at the ATP 500 tournament in Vienna.
Thiem even had a set point in the first round, but he didn't have to fret. The 2020 US Open champion and two-time Roland Garros finalist knew that more was no longer possible at this stage of his career. Since undergoing wrist surgery in the summer of 2021, he has been unable to catch up with the world's top players, which is why he announced his retirement a few months ago. In the Wiener Stadthalle, 9800 fans gave him a dignified farewell. One without tears.
Not the emotional type
In contrast to the farewells of Roger Federer and other stars, Thiem remained calm and placed his racket in a display case as an exhibit for the current exhibition in the Stadthalle. "I was never the emotional type, and that's how it was today." A choreography of signs with the help of the audience said "Thank you, Domi" and the Lower Austrian from Wiener Neustadt said the same to his fans. Those in the hall, in front of the TV and also worldwide. "I wanted to take the opportunity to say thank you to all the people who have been with me for years."
He was also nervous before his 563rd and last match on the ATP Tour. He wasn't relaxed at all, but "very nervous. I was well in the tunnel," he admitted. "I haven't always managed to do that in recent years, which is why I started well. For how well I can play, I got the maximum out of the first set."
Too far away from the world top
There will be no withdrawal from retirement, Thiem assures us. "The most important factor in this is that, objectively speaking, I'm already far away from the world's best and my own performance potential," he says realistically. "It would be completely different if I stopped and was in the top ten. I'm so far away from the level where it would pay off for me personally."
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