Five years ago today, Dominic Thiem won the US Open final in dramatic fashion against Alexander Zverev. It remains his only Grand Slam triumph. After a bitter sporting slump, he retired early.
Dominic Thiem falls to the ground behind the baseline of Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, remaining on the hard court of the world’s largest tennis stadium for several seconds. Moments earlier, a backhand from his good friend and final opponent Alexander Zverev had sailed wide.
The Austrian enjoys the moment in near silence. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there are no spectators in the stadium to witness the greatest success of Thiem’s career—winning his first Grand Slam title at the US Open on September 13, 2020, five years ago today.
For the first time in the history of the US Open, a player came back from a two-set deficit in a final. For Zverev, who is still chasing his first major triumph, it was one of the most bitter defeats of his career. For Thiem, it was an even greater moment of joy.
“It had to be this way. Like my whole career. Ups and downs, just drama,” he said just minutes after the nerve-wracking battle that went to five sets—unaware of how aptly he was describing what was to come in the future.
Because after Thiem reached the pinnacle, a downward spiral followed that drove him to retirement.
After US Open victory, things continue well at first
Contrary to what many believe, the decline did not begin immediately after his triumph in New York. In the weeks that followed, the major champion continued to perform strongly, reaching the final of the ATP Finals, among other achievements.
But in the 2021 season, the break came: a few months after fulfilling his self-proclaimed lifelong dream, the 17-time ATP title winner was struggling with himself. A motivational slump set in, and Thiem fell into it. To make matters worse, the mental challenges were compounded by a physical setback in June 2021, which the 31-year-old struggled with until the very end. In the first round of the tournament in Mallorca, he suffered a joint injury to his right playing hand.
After a forced break of around nine months, he made his comeback in March 2022, but it was a slow one. “The long break and the protective posture of my wrist caused some bad habits to creep into my forehand,” Thiem explained.
Few bright spots, many doubts
He sparked a small glimmer of hope by reaching the final of the 250-point event in his Austrian hometown of Kitzbühel in 2023 – but disillusionment quickly followed. Reaching the final remained an exception.
Even on the second-tier Challenger Tour, he was unable to gain confidence, suffering defeats there against lesser-known names such as his compatriot Lukas Neumayer and Daniel Michalski.
Attempts to gain new momentum by changing coaches and thus return to the path of success also came to nothing. Thiem parted ways with his former coach Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh after his first-round defeat at the 2024 Australian Open – which turned out to be his last major tournament. “I see this as my last chance,” he said at the time. Soon after, it became clear that the coaching change had also come to nothing. At the age of just 30, Thiem announced the end of his career in the spring of 2024.
Career ends after the tennis season
One statistic in particular shows just how much untapped potential there was: Thiem was the only player besides Andy Murray to have defeated each of the “Big Three” – Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Roger Federer – at least five times.
Dominic Thiem vs The Big Three
5-7 vs Djokovic
6-10 vs Nadal
5-2 vs FedererThat’s a good story to tell the grandkids around the fireplace in Austria getty pic.twitter.com/eFVH5qZKRm
— Christopher Clarey (@christophclarey) October 22, 2024
Overall, only Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin del Potro (each with a total of 17 wins against the “Big Three”) and Murray (30) have achieved this more often, although they have also had the pleasure—or the pain—of facing the Big Three more often.
The two-time French Open finalist Thiem was also not far from achieving his big goal of becoming the second Austrian after Thomas Muster to reach number 1 in the world rankings.
While a new elite is now emerging in the form of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, Thiem has bowed out as a particularly unfortunate representative of his generation.
