Aug 26, 2024; Flushing, NY, USA; Dominic Thiem of Austria after losing to Ben Shelton of the USA on day one of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem officially made his farewell from tennis on Tuesday when the 31-year-old Austrian lost a first-round match at the Erste Bank Open to Luciano Darderi in Vienna.
The homecountry fans gave Thiem top-level support but Darderi of Italy posted a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory. After the match, Thiem received a thunderous ovation and his racket was placed in a glass case.
“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,” Thiem said to the crowd after the match. “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!”
The former World No. 3 never regained his form after a major right wrist injury in 2021. He beat Alexander Zverev to win the 2020 U.S. Open, twice lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final (2018-19) and also lost to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final in 2020.
A winner of 17 ATP singles titles during his 14 pro seasons, Thiem was ranked 318th entering the match with Darderi.
Thiem led 4-2 in the opening set before Darderi recovered to win it in a tiebreaker. Darderi then cruised in the second set, finishing off Thiem with a solid forehand before greeting him at the net to extend his own congratulations.
Thiem had edges of 11-6 in aces and 29-21 in winners but Darderi made fewer unforced errors (16 to 25) and won 14 of 15 net points (93.3 percent). He also won 82.5 percent (33 of 40) of his first-serve points.
After announcing his retirement in May, Thiem recently told ATP.com that he has no regrets.
“When I think back on my career, the main emotions are really big gratitude for everything I was able to experience,” Thiem said. “I was very lucky to stay healthy (most of) the time to be able to realize basically all my dreams. And yeah, I was never expecting a career like that when I was young. All I wanted was to be a professional tennis player, whatever comes with it.”
–Field Level Media
