Dominic Thiem: “Tennis is in very good hands” | ATP Tour

Mallorca

Thiem: “Tennis is in very good hands”

The former No. 3 plays one of the last tournaments of his career in Mallorca

June 23, 2024

Not even a year had passed since Dominic Thiem won the first Grand Slam title of his career at the US Open, when in June 2021 he suffered an injury to his right wrist that forced him to retire in his debut during the first set against to Adrian Mannarino at the Mallorca Championships.

Three seasons later, the Austrian returns to the place where his joint said enough and he never managed to recover to return to the level that led him to climb to No. 3 in the world. Now, at 30 years old, he is enjoying one of the last tournaments of his career on the Spanish grass courts.

“I have had a very nice career, I have always put a lot of passion into it at all times and I have given everything, but now that I have announced my retirement, I am very happy, because I have relieved myself of a lot of stress,” Thiem acknowledged before making his debut in Mallorca. in front of Gael Monfils.

“I’m looking forward to playing my last tournaments, but also everything that comes after and I’m trying to enjoy my last month as much as possible,” added the winner of 17 ATP Tour titles.

Thiem is part of a group of big names on the circuit who are close to saying goodbye to professional tennis, after a lifetime dedicated to the sport of the racket.

“It is a very emotional year, I would say, because Diego [Schwartzman] and I have announced our withdrawal, probably also Rafa [Nadal] y Andy [Murray] “They are reaching the end and that is very emotional,” said the current No. 134 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Of course, despite the departure of all those players that Thiem lists, the protagonist himself is in charge of calling for calm for the most nostalgic. “Still, there are some players from the old generation who continue to play incredible tennis and we have an incredible new generation.”

Without forgetting two of the youngest talents on the ATP Tour who are no longer promising and are already a reality fighting hand in hand for the top of world tennis: “Now, there are two boys who have been No. 1, Sinner and Alcaraz, who are incredible and play great tennis, I love watching them and probably all the fans like watching them, so tennis is in very good hands.”

Hello, @domithiem 💚🌱#MallorcaChampionships | @MallorcaChamps pic.twitter.com/rhGJQUql9L

— ATP Tour in Spanish (@ATPTour_ES) June 23, 2024

The truth is that Thiem did everything he could to avoid a premature goodbye. However, no matter how much he tried since that fateful injury, the results did not prove him right. Since then, he accumulated a record of games with more losses than wins: 39-44. Beyond the results, he always tried to come back, taking as inspiration some of his teammates on the circuit.

“As luck would have it, I had my first real big injury three years ago. “I had been lucky with my body before,” he began his explanation. “Rafa [Nadal]Juan Martín del Potro had already suffered injuries when they were very young, so it is very inspiring to see how they came back so many times. “They have been a great inspiration and I have tried to give my all too.”

In this way, the time came to make the decision to end his professional career, leaving behind him a great legacy in this sport.

“I think the most important thing of all is that I hope that many children, especially in Austria – because I am from Austria, and probably where I am best known is there, in my own country – to start playing tennis for me, that would be the legacy more important,” he warned.

“I also hope that people remember me as a good person on the circuit, that people liked my game, that is also important. I hope it is a good legacy,” he added.

The number of messages he has received since announcing his retirement support the hypothesis that Thiem can be satisfied with having met those objectives he lists.

“I have received many messages. There are too many to thank one by one, but I am very, very happy with all of them. There have also been people that I don’t know that well and they have still sent me messages, they have even asked other players for my phone number to send me really nice messages. And, of course, every time I have received something like that from a player, it has made me very happy.”

Thiem leaves with a smile, with the peace of having left everything in every minute on the court, of having tried everything he could to try to compete on the ATP Tour and also, of course, with the peace of mind of knowing that he is leaving the circuit in good shape. hands.