Nostalgic feelings often arise from memories of home, drawing us back to cherished moments — some that feel like yesterday and others that seem like a lifetime ago. For Dominic Thiem, such fond recollections in his home country Austria are woven throughout his standout 13-year career.
The 31-year-old will bid farewell to professional tennis this week at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, where he won his first tour-level match as a teenager and later lifted the trophy in front of his home fans in 2019. It has been a key tournament filled with unforgettable moments for Thiem.
Prior to Thiem’s title run, he had not surpassed the quarter-finals at the ATP 500, but he arrived in Vienna in 2019 having already won four ATP Tour crowns for the year including his maiden ATP Masters 1000 crown in Indian Wells. If his excellent form had created any extra pressure to perform in front of his home fans, the top seed handled it flawlessly.
Thiem eased past Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his opening match and then recovered after dropping the opening set to Fernando Verdasco in the second round, before Pablo Carreno Busta retired when 0-5 down to give the Austrian a semi-final spot. From there Thiem fought off two Top 15 stars in the semi-finals and final, rallying from a set down in both matches to eventually be crowned champion.
He overcame Matteo Berrettini 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the last four, avenging his Shanghai loss to the Italian from just two weeks earlier.
“The match was on a very high level from the first to the last point,” Thiem said. “With all the support and home advantage, I was able to pull through."
Then, a nervous night of sleep. One match would determine if Thiem would claim the biggest tennis tournament on Austrian soil. He shook off a slow start to earn a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory against Diego Schwartzman, with whom he had teamed earlier that year to reach the Madrid and Buenos Aires doubles finals.
On championship point, the buzz throughout the stadium could be heard mid-rally. Thiem struck a fierce forehand that put Schwartzman on defence and the crowd already began to celebrate the all-but-guaranteed victory.
When Thiem hammered a forehand winner to close the match, he fell on his back in relief, while his adoring fans rose to their feet in unison.
Thiem celebrates his 2019 Vienna triumph. Photo Credit: Hans Punz/APA/AFP via Getty Images
“I wanted to play my best tennis for this amazing crowd," said Thiem, the third Austrian to win Vienna (Horst Skoff in 1988, Jurgen Melzer in 2009-10). “It's unreal to me. Three times this week I came back from a set down… It's been a dream week."
The Austrian recorded five tour-level titles in 2019 alone, including two at home (he also triumphed in Kitzbühel). Thiem, whose Indian Wells triumph that year would prove to be his lone Masters 1000 crown, and Novak Djokovic were the only players to win five trophies that season.
Triumphing in Vienna was a full-circle moment for Thiem. As an 18-year-old in 2011 then-ranked World No. 1,890 in the PIF ATP Rankings, he earned his maiden tour-level win in Vienna against countryman Thomas Muster, the only Austrian to reach World No. 1. It was the genesis of a distinguished career for Thiem, who has claimed 17 tour-level trophies, including the 2020 US Open.
Highly regarded as having one of the best one-handed backhands in the history of the sport, the five-time Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Thiem has amassed more than 300 tour-level match wins. Celebrating the five-year anniversary of his Vienna victory this week, Thiem won’t soon forget that career highlight as he heads into retirement.
