Dominic Thiem ended his professional tennis career with one last defeat at the 2024 Vienna Open.
The Austrian player started his career in Vienna 14 years ago. In 2010, he entered the qualifying tournament of the Vienna Open thanks to a wild card, and he lost in a three-set battle to Marsel Ilhan 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.
Since then, he has played the tournament every single year, apart from 2021, including this year, which marked his retirement. After struggling to get back to his former level, Thiem made a decision to retire from the sport.
He enjoyed plenty of success, reaching the World No. 3 spot during the Big Three era. He also won the US Open in 2020, and it’s not a surprise that Thiem was one of the most respected players in the locker room.
Unfortunately, every tennis career ends, and so did his, with his place of choice being the 2024 Vienna Open, very fittingly, given that his career started at the very same tournament.
In his retirement event, the 31-year-old drew 22-year-old Luciano Darderi from Italy in the first round of the ATP 500 competition. The Italian came into the match on a seven-match winning streak, but prior to the match, Thiem admitted that he is the type of player who needs to play a lot to be at his best, and he hasn’t played a lot in recent weeks.
The 2020 US Open champion lost his last five matches prior to this one, with only one of those coming on the hard courts. As a result, he was the underdog, but it wasn’t about winning or losing.
Thiem wanted to say goodbye to the crowd that supported him throughout his tennis career, and he did that while also producing some shots that he was known for.
In the first set of the match, he even broke first and led 4-2. However, the home crowd favorite then lost the one-break advantage, and the opening set of the match had to be decided in a tie-break.
Thiem also had a lead in the tie-break, as he was up 3-0 and 5-2, and even had a set point at 6-5. But Darderi won the last three rallies of the set to win the tie-break 8-6.
In the second set, Thiem couldn’t provide much resistance. He was broken immediately in the first game of the set, and his opponent then added another break to go up 5-1.
There didn’t seem to be many ways in which the Austrian player could have come back into the match, and he didn’t, as he lost 6-7(6), 2-6, to end his tennis career in front of his home crowd.
Thiem then also had a short retirement ceremony, which included hanging his racket into a glass box and thanking the crowd in Vienna. However, his big retirement ceremony took place on Sunday, when he played against Alexander Zverev in an exhibition match.
