"It's not that difficult for me" - Dominic Thiem at peace with decision to retire after final US Open appearance

Former World No.3 Dominic Thiem made his final appearance at a Grand Slam event at the 2024 US Open, as the Austrian has made known his plans to retire by the end of the 2024 ATP season.

Thiem faced 13th seed Ben Shelton in the opening round at Flushing Meadows, with the American prevailing in straight sets. The Austrian is a former champion in New York, having defeated Alexander Zverev in the final in 2020 to lift his only Grand Slam title.

Following his 2020 title run in New York, Thiem suffered a serious wrist injury that kept him sidelined for several months. The 30-year old was never able to overcome this setback, which ultimately played a role in his decision to retire.

"Once I took the decision this year in March, from this moment on, I was happy about it.” Thiem said of his decision to end his career this year. “I was also able to kind of prepare already this new chapter of what is coming soon. 
“Honestly, I loved playing on tour, and I was very patient about it but I also always really enjoyed being home as much as possible and having a kind of a normal life at home. That’s why I think it’s not that difficult for me to retire and that's why I'm also happy with my decision."

During his sparkling career, Thiem won 17 ATP titles including his lone Grand Slam trophy at the US Open in 2020. Between 2016 and 2020 he finished every season in the ATP Top 10 and is one of a select few players to have beaten Novak Djokovic five or more times. 

“I had really legendary matches against the best players in our era, maybe the best players in history," said Thiem. “I had matches against them where I was winning, against each of them, but I also had matches against each of them where I didn’t have any chance and where they made me look like almost a beginner. I mean, each of them is unique.”   

Although Thiem will be competing in his final professional tournament at the Vienna Open in his homeland of Austria later this year, the local legend stated he would like to maintain some ties to the sport he loves.

"I want to stay in tennis, of course.” he added. “We have our academy in Austria and it would be amazing if players from there are coming through one day and also competing in tournaments like US Open or the biggest tournaments in the world. This would be really, really nice, and would be also the goal.”