The former US Open winner is retiring at the end of 2024 and his injury troubles emerged after going up against Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Dominic Thiem has opened up on his injury hell that forced him into an early retirement decision and explained why Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal contributed to his troubles.
The Austrian tennis star announced that he would be hanging up his racket at the end of the 2024 season, despite the fact he only celebrates his 31st birthday in September.
Thiem has endured a horrendous spate of bad luck with injuries, with a recurrent wrist problem in particular derailing his career just when he had reached his peak.
He has won just one of his eight ATP Tour matches in 2024 and has fallen to 209th in the world rankings, which has played its part in his decision to step away from the sport after 13 years as a professional.
Ahead of his final Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, where he won his only Major against Alexander Zverev four years ago, Thiem reflected on how he tried to go toe-to-toe with the ‘Big Three’ – losing the Australian Open final against Djokovic and two finals at Roland Garros against Nadal – and came off worse as a result.
“It took a toll, especially as a mere mortal trying to compete with the sport’s three demigods [Federer, Nadal and Djokovic],” Thiem told The Athletic. “That contributed to the injury, definitely. I was competing with the three greatest of all time. That was intense.
“But also, all the years before I always had a big load and intensity in my practice. That’s something the doctor and many other people said: that at one point the wrist broke because of all the shots I did, all the hard practice I did all those years before.
“I was always striving to get better and get even closer to the best players in the world.”
The 2020 US Open champion beat Zverev in a draining five-set epic after going two sets down, with both players dead on their feet in the four-hour marathon.
Thiem admitted he knew it could be his best shot to win a Slam, which pushed him to recover even when Zverev served for the championship at 5-3 up in the third set.
“Every Grand Slam final felt like it could be the last one, because the journey is really tough,” Thiem added. “You have to beat great players, you have to stay healthy. Many, many little things have to come together.
“When I played Sascha, it was like now or never. When I was two sets down, luckily I released a bit and he also started to think a bit more that he’s very close to the title.”
There is little chance of Thiem getting anywhere near the latter stages again at Flushing Meadows. But with a planned final swansong in Vienna, Thiem’s career will at least finish in places where he experienced joy in his career
