Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem has announced he will retire at the 2024 Vienna Open, in front of thousands of home fans. The former World No.3 shared his opinion on the misconceptions of winning a Grand Slam title, sentiments that were backed by American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff.
After winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open, Thiem was touted as the successor to the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. However, a lingering wrist injury kept him sidelined for extended periods of time after his biggest triumph. After several attempts at a comeback, Thiem announced he would be hanging up his racket at this home event in Vienna.
Thiem speaks on reality of winning a Major title, Gauff agrees
Prior to his final appearance in Vienna, Thiem spoke on several topics, including how it feels to win a Grand Slam title. The 31-year old admitted it was not as life-changing as he had hoped.
“Honestly, when I look back, I realize that I gave it too much importance,” Thiem said. “I thought it would make me happy forever, that it would change my life… but that’s not how it is. It’s an illusion.
"The truth is that nothing changed. And honestly, if in 20 years, I’m still here, no one will care if I was a Grand Slam champion or not. At that moment, I didn’t think that way. I thought that if I didn’t win a Grand Slam, my career wouldn’t be good, and I would always have doubts.
“It wasn’t an easy situation. It’s very nice to have that trophy at home, but in the end, it’s just a trophy; it shouldn’t make a difference in life. That’s how I see it now.”
"The truth is that nothing changed. And honestly, if in 20 years, I’m still here, no one will care if I was a Grand Slam champion or not. At that moment, I didn’t think that way. I thought that if I didn’t win a Grand Slam, my career wouldn’t be good, and I would always have doubts.
“It wasn’t an easy situation. It’s very nice to have that trophy at home, but in the end, it’s just a trophy; it shouldn’t make a difference in life. That’s how I see it now.”
Upon learning of Thiem's comments, Gauff shared them on an Instagram story, along with the caption - "Real". The American superstar also won her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, although she did so at just 19 years of age, whereas Thiem was 27 when he won his first Major.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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