Tennis Career Graveyard: Dominic Thiem — How one injury destroyed the career of a Grand Slam champion

Dominic Thiem finally got his hands on the Grand Slam trophy he had spent years chasing. Less than a year later, the injury that would change the course of his career struck.

The Austrian had reached three Grand Slam finals before finally winning the 2020 US Open, coming back from two sets down against Alexander Zverev to claim the biggest title of his career. He had reached No. 3 in the world and looked ready to enter the next phase of his career. Instead, a serious wrist injury at the 2021 Mallorca Championships began a decline he would never fully recover from.

Thiem’s rise was well documented. A phenomenal player on clay, he proved that he could compete on all surfaces with some deep runs on hardcourt, including the Indian Wells title in 2019. However, his prized surface got him so much success. Two Madrid Open finals, two Roland Garros finals, four defeats.

Losses in the 2019 ATP Finals and 2020 Australian Open were creating a daunting pattern. Thiem could not get over the final hurdle in the biggest matches. Then came that US Open run. Coming back from a two-set deficit, he did something extraordinary and finally managed to experience his dream.

His high was short lived. Just under a year later, his whole tennis career would come crashing down after one fateful injury cost him everything. A style built on power and physicality were dampened by wrist surgery that dispossessed him of his most brilliant weapons.

A sad demise followed before eventually calling it a day back in 2024. It was a tough choice, but a straightforward one as he bid farewell to whatever chance he had of ploughing on and achieving more in the sport. He had the talent, and even reached those high peaks, but in the end his body let him down.

Thiem turned pro back in 2011, mainly competing in ITF events as he finetuned his game to the optimal level that would one day be challenging the best players in the world. He would earn wildcards for his maiden ATP events in Vienna, Balgok and Kitzbuhel.

It was in the Austrian capital where he made his first breakthrough, winning his first ATP match against former World No.1 Thomas Muster. Progress was slow at first, but he continued to plug away, learning from every opportunity given.

A couple of quarter-finals in 2013 set him in good stead ahead of his first ATP final. In his home event, he took the first set before David Goffin completed the comeback to win the Vienna Open. It was a painful blow, but the wait for glory did not last long.

2015 saw not one, but three ATP titles be secured as he finished the year in the top 20. The first of what would be a series of deep Roland Garros runs came in 2016 where he reached the semi-finals, a best result at Grand Slam level at that point.

His prowess on clay was starting to get recognised. He won another three titles from four finals that year, two on clay, and debuted in the ATP Finals. 2017 saw another step in the right direction. Rafael Nadal defeated him in both the Barcelona Open and Madrid Open final before another semi-final appearance at Roland Garros was scuppered by that man again. A year on, another final defeat in the Spanish capital this time came against Alexander Zverev. Thiem would get his revenge.

For the time being, he would be competing in a first ever Grand Slam final at Roland Garros. After two last-four defeats, he was ready to finally grab the biggest prize in tennis, but once more Nadal proved to be a stubborn figure to displace.

A first, and only, Masters 1000 title popped along at Indian Wells, coming back from a set down to defeat Roger Federer. His talents at this point were clear and obvious. A regular in the top 10, he continued to challenge the best players in the world. However, it seemed for the most part that he was that extra step off the pace when compared to the absolute elite. Another French Open final defeat to Nadal proved that point.

At the end of the year, another chance of sealing a noteworthy piece of silverware came and went in the form of the ATP Finals. Reaching the final, a young Stefanos Tsitsipas robbed him of glory. However, the positives were very much there. He had proven that he was not totally reliant on clay and that he could challenge on all fronts. The best was about to come.

2020 was the year that confirmed Thiem’s status as a tennis icon. After never making it past the fourth round, he blasted into the final of the Australian Open where Novak Djokovic prolonged his wait for a Grand Slam title. A couple of months later, he cracked the top three in the rankings, reaching a career high of third in the world.

Tennis was limited this year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the 2020 US Open was another chance for Thiem to relieve his dream of becoming a major winner. Jaume Munar and Sumit Nagal were comfortably disposed of before former champion Marin Cilic was taken down in four. Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur were his next victims as he toppled Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.

The Big Three were not to stop him this time, but it seemed that Zverev could have. In a remarkably tense final, Zverev was serving for the match in the fifth set having previously blown a two-set lead. Thiem battled his way back before he also got broken when trying to serve it out. Eventually, the Austrian got over the line. That was it. The moment all tennis fans would remember him for. Thiem was a Grand Slam champion.

He would reach the quarter-finals in the French Open before a second consecutive final defeat at the ATP Finals stubbed his progress slightly, but overall that 2020 season powered him among the elite. He had proved all the doubters wrong. From being levels off the Big Three to his reliance on clay to his prior misfortunes at the business end of tournaments. All shattered with just one win in New York. He was on top of the world, but that peak would soon come crumbling down.

Thiem’s game was built around power. He could whack a ball harder than most with heavy groundstrokes and huge topspin causing opponents to come unstuck. This style of play can be vulnerable if something is to affect how much power they can generate, and that is what occurred in 2021.

He continued his impressive form at the Madrid Open with a fourth consecutive semi-final before losing in the first round of Roland Garros. It was a huge surprise, and after previously suffering with a knee problem earlier in the year, Thiem chose to skip the Tokyo Olympics. He did compete on grass at the Mallorca Championships, and this would be the location of where his tennis career would falter.

A wrist injury suffered during a tussle against Adrian Mannarino needed surgery, and he would miss the rest of the season. It was a huge blow as he could not defend his US Open title, seeing a sharp dip in the rankings.

A delayed comeback would eventually see him return to familiar setting: clay. However, his return in a Challenger tournament results him losing in the first round. Now ranked outside the top 300 following another setback that cost him the chance to compete in Madrid and Paris, times were getting desperate. He was still in his mid-20s but was heavily impacted by the wrist injury that prevented the amount of power he could produce. That was what his game relied on the most, and it had been cruelly taken away from him.

He soldiered on, not giving up without a fight. However, he was never the same. Gone were the days of battling for Grand Slam titles and challenging the Big Three. There were shades of the old Thiem, but his injury had killed any chance of him getting back to his prior heights.

2024 was the year he decided that enough was enough. A sad demise fully out of his hands as he said goodbye to the ATP Tour on home soil in Vienna. There was one reason for this decision: his wrist.

Tennis can be a cruel sport. Injuries can ruin someone’s career at any given moment. This is what occurred to Thiem, and unlike some he was just never able to find his mojo on court.

Being out of the sport for seven months also has a huge mental toll. Not regularly out there doing what you love while nursing what ended up being the reason he retired. Once he did make his first foray on court again in 2022, the spark was gone. He could not find those old levels which made him the tennis player he once was.

Unfortunately, the downward spiral experienced was partly due to his style. So reliant on that power he creates a lot of that evaporated over on that fateful day in Mallorca. His one-handed backhand which put a lot of strain and pressure on that area of the body never fully healed. The workload put in on the body finally took its toll, and it proved inevitably detrimental.

That US Open title has firmly put him in elite company. If Zverev did serve it out, then maybe Thiem would not be so fondly remembered. He would have been the ‘nearly man’. All those Grand Slam and ATP Finals that he came precariously close to winning but could not quite get over the line.

In conclusion, from one perspective it may be hard to say that Thiem’s career was a failure. However, there is a huge ‘what if’ in terms of the timing of that injury. 27-years-old, still in the top 10 in the world and playing the best tennis of his career. Added to the fact that the ‘Big Three’ were coming to the end of their reign as a trio with a whole new crop of talented youngsters finding their feet in the sport, that could have been his chance to stamp his authority and take the next step. Injury prevented that, and his career has been paused there.