Austria’s Dominic Thiem, a former U.S. Open champion, confronted a disappointing exit on the Vienna Open on Tuesday, falling to Luciano Darderi with a rating of 6-7 (6-8), 2-6. This defeat marked the tip of Thiem’s profession on residence soil after a chronic battle with a wrist damage.
Earlier this 12 months, Thiem introduced his retirement from tennis, conceding defeat in his battle to totally recuperate from the damage that plagued him since 2021. In the match, his 22-year-old Italian opponent, Darderi, initially appeared to battle however in the end clinched the primary set in a tightly contested tiebreak.
However, the world No. 42 gained momentum because the match progressed, beating an more and more vocal Thiem 6-2 within the second set.
“I would really like to thank you for all the sensational years because, of course, I am only a part of this all, the whole career,” Thiem informed the cheering crowd after the match.
“A huge thank you to everyone for their support over the years. The whole journey was an absolute dream,” he mentioned to his practically 10,000 followers, who celebrated him with standing ovations.
Former world No. 3 Thiem, who’s at the moment ranked 318th, wanted a wildcard to play on the ATP 500 in Vienna.
The 31-year-old Austrian’s profession has nose-dived since his crowning second in 2020 when he beat Alexander Zverev within the COVID-19-affected U.S. Open last held behind closed doorways.
At that point, it appeared that he was lastly poised to problem the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, and Rafael Nadal.
However, his profession took a flip for the more severe in mid-2021 when he suffered severe ligament injury competing in Mallorca and was pressured to sit down out the remainder of the 12 months.
He performed simply two Grand Slams in 2022, and his rating fell outdoors the highest 100 for the primary time in over a decade.
Heading into his last ATP match on Tuesday, Thiem, who turned professional in 2011, had received simply two essential draw matches all 12 months.
Throughout his profession, Thiem received 17 titles and greater than $30 million in prize cash.
Over the weekend, present and former tennis gamers, together with Zverev — who Thiem confronted one final time for enjoyable on the court docket — and Boris Becker, paid tribute to the Austrian at a farewell get together attended by 1000’s of followers at Vienna’s Stadthalle.
Video messages from Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer had been proven on Sunday, with many praising Thiem for his optimistic spirit and camaraderie.
Source: www.dailysabah.com