Dominic Thiem set to retire from tennis at the end of 2024 season - Reports
Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem is reportedly planning to retire from the sport at the age of 30. His last tournament will likely be the ATP 500 Erste Bank Open in Vienna in October.
Thiem is amongst the most successful tennis players from Austria. The biggest moment of his career came in 2020 when he won his maiden Grand Slam title. Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in Flushing Meadows to win the 2020 US Open. In addition, he reached the finals of Roland Garros in 2018 and 2019 as well as the Australian Open and the ATP Finals in 2020.
Dominic Thiem reached his highest-ever ranking of World No. 3 in 2020. Unfortunately, the Austrian saw his form and ranking fall off a cliff after that successful year due to a horrendous run of injuries. At the 2021 Mallorca Championships, Thiem badly damaged his right wrist. This injury worsened over time, forcing him to the sidelines for nine months across 2021 and 2022.
More than two years later, Thiem is still struggling with his right wrist and has not returned to his previous best. Now, reports from the Austrian publication SN suggest that the once highly touted star will call it quits at the end of the year at his home tournament in Vienna. Thiem has reportedly already spoken to his sponsors about the decision.
The news comes after the Austrian announced in late March this year that his old wrist injury had resurfaced. He complained about "minor inflammation" in that region after playing in a Challenger tournament in Hungary.
"Unfortunately, little bit before the Challenger in Hungary, the first tournament back for me, my wrist started to make some issues again. I started to have those clicks again which bothered me also straight after I came back from the injury three years ago. And also this strange feeling came back and yeah it turned to pain in the last weeks and there is a minor inflammation there," Thiem had posted on Instagram.
Dominic Thiem last played at the Madrid Open 2024
Dominic Thiem's last appearance on the 2024 ATP Tour came at the Masters-1000 Madrid Open. The two-time former finalist had to go through the qualifying route to enter the main draw. He defeated Felipe Alves in his first qualifying round but lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis in the next stage.
Before that, Thiem played at the ATP 250 BMW Open in Munich where he endured a first-round exit against Alejandro Moro Canas of Spain. The Austrian has struggled to rack up wins this year, to say the least. His only tour-level win came against Maximilian Marterer in the opening round of the Estoril Open in early April.
Dominic Thiem, currently ranked World No. 117, has emerged victorious at 17 ATP Tour tournaments in his career. Apart from the 2020 US Open, his biggest title came at the 2019 Indian Wells Masters where he defeated Roger Federer in the final. Thiem last reached the title contest on the ATP Tour at the 2023 Austrian Open in Kitzbuhel.