An epic downfall! From winning the US Open title in 2020 to entering the last major event in the 2024 season as world number 209, Dominic Thiem has now seen it all. Currently, he is all set to take on Ben Shelton in his first match at the 2024 US Open in just a few hours from now. There was a time when this Austrian tennis star used to look at the ‘Big Three’ of the tennis world, eye-to-eye. Now, he is even finding it to make his presence felt on the Tour. What really caused this massive downfall in Thiem’s career?

Well, first take a look at some of his glorious days. Dominic Thiem’s career reached its peak during the 2018-2020 period. In 2018, he reached his first Grand Slam final at the French Open, followed by a consecutive finals’ appearance a year later. However, on both of those occasions, he was defeated by Rafael Nadal. However, interestingly, Thiem managed to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title at 2019 Indian Wells by defeating Roger Federer in the finals. Even in the 2019 ATP Finals, he played some outstanding tennis. Thiem has always come up with a tough challenge against the ‘Big Three’. His best record in his career, however, came a year later.

Dominic Thiem won his first and only major title(to date) at the 2020 US Open, becoming the world number 3. Everyone hailed him as the next big thing in the tennis world, but little did the Austrian predict about what was lined up for him in the next few months. Dominic Thiem suffered a wrist injury at the 2021 Mallorca Championships, requiring surgery and forcing him to miss the remainder of the 2021 season.

We know wrists play an important role in the racquet sport. According to the initial diagnosis, Thiem suffered, “a detachment of the posterior sheath of the ulnar side of the right wrist.” He tried several recovery measures and implemented multiple methods, but still, it was very difficult for him to even rotate his wrist. Thiem said it was “super stiff, the right hand and wrist.”

Dominic Thiem faced setbacks in his recovery from his wrist injury. He withdrew from several tournaments, including the Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Australian Open, Córdoba Open, Indian Wells, and Miami Open, citing recovery reasons. Despite his plans to return to the tour in March, Thiem continued to experience delays in his recovery and ultimately announced that he would focus on the European clay court swing.

Then, Dominic Thiem finally made a return to the tour at the Marbella Challenger in 2022. His luck, however, was not on his side at that time, as he then tested positive for COVID-19. He just couldn’t get back his winning touch after that. Frequent injuries on his wrists, fingers, and foot pushed him to the out of the top 300. Then, he managed to get back Top 100 and also won his first ATP final in three years in 2023. Thereafter, Thiem decided to retire following the 2024 season. Here’s what Thiem said about the main reasons behind this bold call.

Did the ‘Big Three’ play a role in Dominic Thiem’s severe injury?

Before competing in his final Grand Slam tournament at the US Open, where he won his only Major title against Alexander Zverev four years ago, Thiem reflected on his unsuccessful attempts to rival the “Big Three.” He lost the Australian Open final to Djokovic and two finals at Roland Garros against Nadal. During an interview, he said, “It took a toll, especially as a mere mortal trying to compete with the sport’s three demigods (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic). That contributed to the injury, definitely. I was competing with the three greatest of all time. That was intense.”

He revealed how this enormous competition pushed him to intense practice sessions. Thiem said according to his doctors these hard practices with him trying to generate more power behind his shots, put enormous strength on his wrist. This perhaps was one of the causes of his broken wrist, but who would tell him this at that time? Thiem was deeply engrossed in finding out the secret formula to get closer to the best players in the world. Thiem said, “Every Grand Slam final felt like it could be the last one.” Such was the intensity he used to put on his matches! What forced him to take the retirement call, though?

According to Thiem, “There was no particular moment when I decided to retire, but towards the end of last year I was working hard, doing a good job, giving my best, and the steps in the right direction didn’t satisfy me.” He felt he wasn’t playing at the level that he used to do a few years ago. He hoped to get a breakthrough and get back to his glorious days, but sadly for him, it didn’t come.

However, he considers himself “lucky” to be able to play with the ‘Big Three’ and all the other great players. His journey in the racquet sport is a story worth telling! Share your thoughts on Dominic Thiem’s up-and-down career.