Dominic Thiem Raises the Curtain on a Hobby Shared by the Likes of Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner as He Revisits His Early Days in the Sport

“I consider myself lucky to have been a part of that timeline with the Big 3 and all the other great players,” Dominic Thiem said a few months ago. The former World No. 3 now plans to retire at his home tournament in the Vienna Open at only 31 years of age! But as he looks back to his 13 years of career in tennis and how it all began, the Austrian revealed his knack for a sport other than tennis, one that has a special link to Roger Federer and Jannik Sinner!

On October 7th, the Tennis Insider Club podcast released an exclusive interview with Dominic Thiem. In the first part of the interview, the 2020 US Open champion shared how his love for tennis began at the age of six in his hometown village. Per Thiem, whose parents are tennis coaches, he started enjoying the sport from day one! However, as the host asked him if he played any other sports as a kid or spent his entire time playing tennis, Thiem had a surprising answer.

“I was starting with football also,” said Thiem, who held a junior World No. 2 spot in tennis.  Furthermore, he said, to keep a balance “a little bit of ice hockey. I never liked it, it’s too brutal for me [laughing]. And of course, until I was 14 we were like skiing one week a year.” Humorously referring to the cultural norm of Austria, where skiing is a common sport, he added, “It’s almost like you have to do it [in Austria].” For the uninitiated, Arlberg is Austria’s largest ski area and one of the top five in the world. It’s considered the birthplace of alpine skiing.

The host intervened and hilariously added, “Or they will take your passport out,” to which Thiem agreed, saying, “Exactly.” Jokes apart, Thiem, who has won 17 ATP singles titles, admitted, “But tennis was always like first priority and football until 12 or 13.”

Much like Thiem, interestingly, Federer’s interest in skiing is not a secret. Last year, he even went skiing with his kids and confessed, “The last time I was on skis was in 2008. Then the kids appeared on the scene and they’ve never seen me ski. So it was really a dream come true for me to hit the slopes with them.” Moreover, we also saw him skiing with Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn in February this year! The three-time Winter Olympics medalist posted photos of enjoying the slopes together with the Swiss tennis player.

Besides, Sinner started skiing and playing tennis at the young age of three. He participated in his first ski races in elementary school before his first tennis tournament at five. He was a top junior skier in Italy from seven to twelve, winning a national giant slalom championship in 2008 and being a national runner-up in 2012. At age seven, Sinner briefly focused solely on skiing before his father encouraged him to return to tennis.

The current World No. 1, Sinner, has also expressed his love for skiing. “I was winning a lot when I was young in skiing, and in tennis I never won. And then slowly I started to lose in skiing because physically I was not ready to compete,” said Sinner. 

Much like Sinner and Federer, Thiem too finds solace in skiing, making it a common theme among tennis players! But that’s not the only connection between Thiem and Federer, as the Swiss himself shared a few glimpses of their friendship a few days ago!

Federer’s heartfelt words to Dominic Thiem and their friendship!

On the tennis courts, Dominic Thiem leads their H2H count (5-2), but off-court, it is their friendship that reigns supreme. So, when Thiem posted a picture (on Instagram) with his award in the Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony at the Lotterien Sporthilfe Gala 2024 event, Federer, along with congratulating him on his achievement, Federer confessed that he enjoyed playing with him!

“Tennis will miss you very, very much,” he wrote on Thiem’s IG post. He further added, “You were a great guy, on and off the court. Always fair. Your friendship was always important to me on the tour. As rivals, the fact that we got along so well was always great for me.”

The 20 Grand Slam champion wished him luck for his future and congratulated him on his ‘incredible, fantastic’ career. He concluded with the hope of seeing him once again! The rest two of Big 3, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal, also shared their heartwarming wishes to Thiem in the same post!

With Thiem’s retirement from tennis, fans must now be eager to see him pursue another passion: skiing.