Dominic Thiem laughed before high-fiving his friend Alexander Zverev at the net. The Austrian tennis star of course knew that this victory was a gift – but that was irrelevant on Sunday evening in the Vienna Stadthalle.
In a show match, a staged rematch of the memorable US Open final from 2020, Thiem celebrated a 6-3 win against the German number one. It was the emotional start to the Austrian tennis star’s big farewell.
“Thank you very much for doing this for me. I would like to thank you – for all the wonderful years on the tour and also for what has grown between us. The whole journey that we went through together was real something special,” said Thiem after the easy duel in the direction of Zverev.
The 31-year-old Thiem will once again receive a big stage as part of a “farewell party” in Vienna, where he celebrated one of his 17 tournament victories. On Tuesday, the Lower Austrian from Wiener Neustadt will face the Italian Luciano Darderi in the first round of the last tournament of his career – and is considered an outsider there. Around the tournament, many of his companions said “Hello” to the Austrian star.
“Dominic deserves to have the best last few days on the professional tour. I hope I see him again at the weekend,” said Zverev with a smile, looking at an at least theoretically possible duel in the hot phase of the tournament. The Hamburger is already challenged in the first round on Monday against local hero Joel Schwaerzler.
Thiem won the US Open final against Zverev
Thiem crowned his extremely successful early career in 2020. In the final of the US Open he beat Zverev 3-2 – despite being 0-2 down and cramping in the decisive tie break. As a result of his success, he climbed to third place in the world rankings, his best placement to date.
After a serious wrist injury in 2021, Thiem had to take a long break and was subsequently unable to keep up with the top. The two-time French Open finalist recently returned to the scene of his greatest triumph in New York thanks to a wildcard, but clearly lost there against the American Ben Shelton.
Source: www.sport.de
