Former US Open champion, Dominic Thiem, has retired from tennis following his defeat against Luciano Darderi in the first round of the Vienna Open in Austria.
The 31-year-old Austrian revealed after the straight sets loss that it hurts to be dropping his tennis rackets for good but believes it is the right decision.
Ranked 42nd in the world, Thiem was given a rousing farewell by the crowd in the Austrian capital as the one-time grand slam winner and former Vienna Open champion reflected on leaving the sport behind.
“It hurts. But at the same time I was playing some forehands, especially in the second set, and they were not even coming to the net. So it was the right decision,” Thiem told the crowd.
During his career, Thiem won 17 titles on the ATP Tour and made the final at the French Open in 2018 and 2019. He was also a finalist at the 2020 Australian Open, before finally winning a grand slam at the fourth time of asking by beating Alexander Zverev at the US Open in 2020.
His decline started in 2021 when he was sidelined for 10 months due to a wrist injury. While he was able to break back into the top 100 on the rankings by 2023, the Austrian was unable to regain his old form and announced in May 2024 this would be his final season.