Tennis star announces career milestone: – An incredible experience

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Austrian tennis star Dominic Thiem has announced on his Instagram account that this year’s season will be his last.

He says that there are several reasons why he now chooses to put the racket on the shelf. One is his wrist, which the 30-year-old has struggled with for several years.

The last few years turned into a real injury nightmare for the star who lost 10 months of competition from June 2021.

– My wrist is not the way it should be and the way I want it to be. The second reason is an inner feeling I have. I have thought about this decision for a very long time. But I have come to the conclusion that retiring as a tennis player after the season is the only right decision, he says.

He was never able to get back to his pre-injury form and the wrist has never fully recovered.

Thiem bounced back in 2015 by winning three tournaments – all on clay. He was referred to as the prince of clay and seen as the player to take over from Rafael Nadal. Instead, the Austrian may quickly end up retiring in the same season as the Spaniard.

In total, Thiem has won 17 titles in his career, of which the US Open title in 2020 was by far the biggest. It is also his last tournament victory in his career for the time being.

– I have had a lot of success as a tennis player and had an incredible journey as a player. I have won trophies that I could only dream of. It has been an incredible experience with both ups and downs.

Thiem was at his best number three in the world and has also played Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros (2018 and 2019) and the Australian Open (2020). On clay in Paris, he lost to Nadal both years, while he lost to Novak Djokovic in Australia.

The tournament at home in Vienna in October is expected to be Thiem’s ​​last.