"Tennis is a sport for the rich”: Dominic Thiem highlights financial challenges in the sport

Former Austrian tennis player Dominic Thiem has spoken about the financial challenges of playing at the highest level. The 32-year-old was once regarded as the player to take over the reins from the likes of Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, but injuries halted his career.

Thiem announced his retirement from the sport in 2024 after failing to recover completely from a serious wrist injury. Thiem recently appeared on the Jot Down Sport podcast, where he discussed the financial challenges of playing the sport. Thiem was of the opinion that tennis remains a sport for the rich, as it is very hard for players from humble backgrounds to continue playing at the highest level, with the costs of coaching staff and equipment needed to compete against the very best in the world.

"Tennis is a sport for the rich, and you can see that from a very young age,” said Thiem. “Training, for example, is very expensive. I can tell you that between the ages of 13 and 18, you have to pay between 80,000 and 100,000 euros a year, almost a million euros in total, an amount that no one can afford. I wasn't interested in money or understanding how it worked; I just wanted financial stability throughout my career."

Thiem then went on to highlight the challenges players face even after winning a match or two at Grand Slams. Thiem stated that while winning a Grand Slam match gives a player a lot of financial benefit, in the end, the player receives about 60 per cent, as the other amount is being deducted in taxes, first in the country where the competition has been played and later in the player’s home country.

"The first round of Wimbledon gives you £65,000, but you lose more than 60%,” said Thiem. “First, you have to deduct the taxes of the country you play in, which are deducted from your prize money, then the taxes of your own country, and finally, the expenses related to your team.”

Thiem finished his career with one Grand Slam title to his name, which was the US Open in 2020, where he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final in a five-set thriller with a score of 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6. Other than that, Thiem played in the final of Grand Slams on three occasions, but he ended up on the losing side in each one of them.

Two of those defeats came in the final of the French Open, first in 2018 and later in 2019. On both occasions, his opponent was the former world number one, legendary Rafael Nadal. Thiem also lost in the final of the Australian Open in 2020, where he came second-best against the former world number one, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, in five sets with a score of 6–4, 4–6, 2–6, 6–3, 6–4.

Soon after retiring from the sport, Thiem was quoted in a report by Tennis 365, in which he stated that he feels his tennis career is a ‘very complete story’. The former world number three was of the opinion that he managed to achieve ‘more’ than he ever ‘expected’ and stated that even though he retired at the age of 31, he played tennis professionally for about ‘20 years’.

“Yes, definitely. On paper it says I had a career from 2011 to 2024, but that’s not true,” he said. “Your career starts when you’re eleven or twelve. Then you start to base your whole life around the sport. Before you even start playing professionally, eight or nine years have already passed, and they’re very exhausting. You have to put all your energy into it every day, train for hours. For me, that’s just as much a part of a career as the years when you’re famous and playing on the real tour. That’s why, at 31, I’ve probably had 20 years and achieved more than I ever expected. So, for me, it’s a very complete story.”