Dominic Thiem
Thiem: “Very high” record in career performance compared to the Big 3
Austrian player looks back on his post-retirement career at the Vienna ATP500
October 23, 2024
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Dominic Thiem waves goodbye to his fans in Vienna. From ATP staff
Dominic Thiem competed in an era that featured some of the biggest stars in ATP Tour history. But unlike many of his contemporaries, the Austrian rarely showed any signs of being overwhelmed by who was on the other side of the net.
Thiem is one of only two players, along with Andy Murray, to record at least five Lexus ATP Head2Head wins against each of the ‘big three’. He finished his career with a record of 5-2 against Roger Federer, 6-10 against Rafael Nadal, and 5-7 against Novak Djokovic.
So for a player who has climbed to No. 3 in the PIF ATP rankings and won 17 tour-level trophies, including the 2020 US Open, he has 16 wins and 19 losses against three of tennis’ greatest icons. Where does this amazing achievement rank? What about his career achievements?
“(It’s) very high. “Every game against the big three is every game, not just the win, because I grew up watching them on TV,” Thiem said in Vienna on Tuesday. Speaking to ATPTour.com after the final match of his career at the Erstebank Open. . “I remember the first match I really scheduled (to watch) was the 2005 Roland Garros semi-final, Federer vs. Nadal.
“All of a sudden I was playing against those guys. Every match against them was a great experience and I’m very proud to have played so many matches.”
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Thiem was unable to extend his career by losing in straight sets to Luciano Daldelli in his first match in Vienna, but the home favorite nevertheless showed his flashy best in his final professional match. In particular, several winners with his trademark backhand down the line captivated his adoring home supporters.
“I wanted to take some of those signature shots today. I wanted to show them to the fans one last time as a professional player,” Thiem said. “That was very important[to me]and I think people liked it too. The one-handed backhand is a very nice shot that unfortunately you don’t see much anymore, but luckily , Lorenzo (Musetti), Stefanos (Tsitsipas), Denis (Shapovalov), there are still very good players around.
“I hope they keep doing that, and I really hope I’m not the last Grand Slam champion to use a one-handed backhand for a long time.”
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So what’s next for Thiem? The Austrian has plenty of interests to focus on off the court, including a long-standing passion for environmental issues. However, he admitted that it will take time for him to fully process his emotions after retiring from the sport he has played for as long as he can remember.
“It’s mixed emotions right now,” Thiem told Tennis.com’s Matt Fitzgerald. “Of course I’m very sad, because today the whole Austrian audience showed me all the emotions and all the energy. I’ll definitely miss that. But there’s also a certain sense of relief, because the last few weeks… , because for several months I was thinking a lot about this last game and also how the final week of play would go. Now that we’re over it, I’m relieved.
“And, of course, I’m still very emotional because I’ve been playing tennis for so many years. I’ve been playing professionally for almost 25 years, so it’s a long time and not one day passes by. So I still have to process everything, but I’m very happy and I hope the fans are too.”
