Grand Slam champion Dominic Thiem hung up his racket in Vienna as he having indicated in May, that his home event, the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, would be his last on the tour.
I’ve had so many nice goodbyes in the last few months, but today I want to say thank you for all the sensational years Dominic Thiem
Home fans had hoped he would survive a few rounds before having to call time, but he didn’t survive his first round encounter losing to Luciano Dardieri 7-6(6) 6-2.
The Austrian’s career was unfortunately hampered by the aftereffects of a wrist injury which he picked up the year after winning the US Open in 2020, and his performances never recovered to the same levels again.
“I’ve had so many nice goodbyes in the last few months, but today I want to say thank you for all the sensational years,” the 31-year-old Thiem said.
“I am only a part of this career. The whole journey has been an absolute dream and I want this afternoon, this evening to be yours. I couldn’t have imagined it any better. Thank you.”
Thiem was ranked as high as world No. 3 and enjoyed a remarkable 2020 season, coming back from a two-set deficit to defeat Alexander Zverev in the US Open final, but his career has largely been a case of ‘what might have been’ after injury issues derailed him.
He also finished in the final at Roland-Garros twice, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2018 and 2019, as well as losing to Novak Djokovic in the 2020 Australian Open final.
There were emotional scenes in Vienna, a tournament he won in 2019, as fans held up Austrian flags and signs reading “Danke Dominic”.
“Those emotions, those feelings. Being in the flow, like I was in the first set. These are the things that will never come back,” he continued.
“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 (retirement) was the right decision.”
On Sunday, the tournament held a special ceremony featuring a guard of honour from players including Frances Tiafoe, Matteo Berrettini and Jack Draper, as well as former coach Nicolas Massu, and an exhibition set against Zverev, who he beat for his only major title.
British interest focused on Cameron Norrie and Draper with the former falling to the fifth seed Tiafoe 6-4 7-6(4) while the latter, the seventh seed, survived a strong challenge from the wildcarded Kei Nishikori whom he eventually dismissed 7-6(5) 7-5.
Draper now faces the Italian Darderi, Thiem’s conqueror and if successful, could face Grigor Dimitrov, the third seed for a place in the quarter finals.
Two seeds fell in their opening round matches, Tommy Paul (4) beaten by his American countryman Brandon Nakashima 6-4 6-4 while Alexei Popyrin (8) was defeated by the Czech qualifier Jakub Mensik 7-6(3) 6-2.
