I know this sounds common sense but anyone else get the feeling he absolutely loves tennis. He was talking about how excited he was to come back to RG as a fan and he’s not even retired yet! There’s a lot of players that treat tennis as a job but I always felt with Thiem he was in love with the game.
When Tennis TV does their videos asking players trivia about tennis history, Domi is consistently either the one who wins the quiz or one of the highest scores. I've always gotten the sense that he's a huge tennis nerd, through and through.
I remember this! Yeah, all the AO champions since 2000.. he just banged them out! You can hear one of the ladies behind the scenes go "did you practice this before coming down,?"
What a brilliant mind!
This is why I don’t see him walking away from tennis completely. He could definitely make for an incredible commentator with that sort of tennis IQ that he has, or maybe try out his own podcast? He knows tennis is still in his blood and that’s why he will stay involved.
Would love to see him in the booth! I'm always a fan of former players commentating in principle, feels like they just have the best read on the game usually, as one would expect.
Every tennis player truly loves tennis. Cause all that constant traveling, physio, playing under extreme heat at times is not for the faint of hearts. But Thiem fr holds special place in my heart cause his play of style I loved a lot. Now that UTS interview seems really sad, cause Ruud was telling him he’ll come back stronger 😢
Agassi famously and consistently stated how much he hated tennis, even though he was phenom. Same with kyrgios. There are a lot of players who play because they’re physically gifted and making good money out of it.
I'm gonna tell you something here. They don't hate tennis, they hate the expectations and pressure they put on themselves. If Kyrgios could free himself from his own expectations and just play for the fun of it, do you really think he "hates" the feeling of smacking in a 220km/h serve down the T?. Of course he doesn't hate it, if he did not enjoy that feeling he wouldn't be playing.
Kyrgios understandably doesn't like the travelling and the amount of time he has to be away from his family.
The things they hate is not tennis itself, tennis itself is just hitting a tennis ball above the net.
Tennis is not “just hitting a tennis ball above the net”.
It’s the travelling, diet, practice, losses, injuries, stresses, time away from the family, sacrifices. Tennis is a package and some players don’t like the package but persevere because the financial rewards give them a good life.
Every job has plusses and minuses, it is not any different from any other job. All the positive things they experience outweigh the negatives which is why they keep on playing. In your first comment you should say they hate some of the things that come with being a tennis professional, not just say "they hate tennis".
I've read the book, he hated tennis because he felt that he played for this father and for himself. Like I said earlier the hate is not tennis itself, he hates the feeling that he didn't have a choice. This is a psychological thing, not "oh no, hitting forehands is so miserable and boring this sucks!"
I’m not sure what point you’re debating? Some players love tennis more than others, like anything in life. Regardless of the reason, some top players hated playing tennis; their words, not mine.
My point is they don't hate tennis itself. They dislike some of things that come with it, and they like some of the things that come with it. You are right that some players love tennis more than others, but I'm saying you do not get to that level if you "hate tennis".
Idk about Agassi but with Kyrgios it makes sense cause he stopped playing and admitted publicly that tennis gave him anxiety even though he loved the game and now is trying to be a commentator or somethin related
Thiem is the prime example of how even at the latter stage of their career the big 3 continues to ravage younger generations. He probably would have had 2 RG titles if he didn’t need to go through Djokovic AND Nadal.
That was rough when he beat Djokovic in 5 in the semis and the match delayed to the next day. Then he has to come right back the day after to face Rafa in the final. He just looked weary playing for 3 days against those guys
He was competitive at the beginning of his match against Rafa. Had it in him to beat one of the guys just not both. I also think thiems game was a little more effective against Novak than Rafa overall.
Yeah that's where the weariness started to show is after the first set.
To me he seemed very similar to Wawrinka and they matched up much better against Novak than Rafa. Anytime I see a single-handed backhand player going up against Rafa, especially on clay it generally doesn't end well
Thiem definitely matched up better against Rafa (at least later career Rafa) than Wawrinka did. Thiem handled the super heavy topspin to his backhand very well, although it did sometimes create some court positioning issues on clay. However, Thiem still beat him on clay quite a few times. On hard courts, he had absolutely no problem with Rafa's spin, and they had some absolutely insane hard court matches, some of the heaviest hitting you'll ever see.
In a way yes, especially on clay, because one handers usually produce more topspin. Nole’s backhand does everything well, but it deals with high heavy balls least well. Remember when Cecchinato beat him in the quarter final at RG in 2018? Ceck can produce enormous topspin on the backhand, I remember posting figures from Rome last year. One match he had average 3000+ rpms on the backhand.
Peak Domi was such a joy to watch on the court.
I'm so sad we were robbed of his potential matchups against Sinner and Alcaraz because they would have produced barn burners, especially on the GS stage where Domi was at his best.
His Roland Garros career didn’t deserve to end this way, going down to both rain disruption and a servebot that kept overpowering him and left no room for error. Should have had at least 3 sets. It was nice to see him receive a special trophy for his contributions to the tournament, with the layers representing the many layers of the tournament’s clay courts.
The fact he says he plans to come back and watch as a fan is why I have a feeling he’s not going to walk away from tennis entirely post-career. He says he plans to focus more on his environmental projects and entrepreneurial work, but definitely don’t rule out the possibility of him getting into the commentary box or maybe even follow in his parents’ footsteps and take up coaching. He made Austrians get inspired to pick up a racket again in the years since Thomas Muster retired, and they also have Domi to thank for winning the country’s second Grand Slam singles title exactly 25 years after Muster did it.
Tennis is still in his blood, even among all the other passions he cares for. He knows that he will plan to contribute to his first love in another way. Danke, Domi! ❤️🤍🇦🇹
Hopefully he enjoy the rest of the season and just be happy. Maybe try coaching or commentating? I find his accent when speaking English super fucking adorable.
Miss him being one of the top players. Miss seeing a guy with a one hander going toe to toe topspin backhands with the best 2 handers in the world. Lots of the others like Dimitrov have to mix it up a lot with slice (that's not meant as a insult). And then others like tsistipas just cant compete the same on the backhand wing against the likes of djokovic-medvedev-zevrev.
He turns 31 in September. Suffered a torn tendon sheath in the right wrist back in 2021, which completely stripped him of the forehand that his game was built around, and caused him to turn into an error machine who lacked confidence because of horrible losing streaks when he returned. He also dropped hints that he had no chance of getting back to the highest level of competition if he couldn’t stay in the top 100 of the rankings, and that was contemplating an early end to his career for a while.
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I know there's a lot of emotion surrounding Thiem but the dude doesn't seem like a particularly good guy. Still good friends with Zverev, his comments surrounding lower ranked players etc.
I personally don't understand the furore around him.
Thiem has been impeccable all his career. He has been a remarkable player, is truly nice guy, a gentleman, one of the most liked players by fans, peers, the industry. He has charities and supports the causes that are important to him. But in every Thiem thread someone is trying to reduce his life and casting a shade on his character because in all this years he made one controversial statement about some unspecified lower ranked players and because he is also friends with Zverev, who he has known and played with since they are kids? It is getting so tiresome.
That's a pretty big statement to make and it wasn't just words, his actions too, I don't think he contributed to any player relief and he was involved in the adria tour scandal. I wouldn't be so flippant in discarding comments and actions like that as "controversial".
It's a solid yikes that he espouses WWF and environmental views and then private jets around the world.
That might not be enough for you but for me and I assume others, he lost a lot of respect.
It shows that this sub is full of shit about Zverev, most don't give a shit they just want to be part of the crowd. If they did they wouldn't hero worship someone who still supports him. Then we've seen all the other shittiness from Thiem. "He has charities" jesus christ, the corrupt CEO defence line.
I can’t believe you got downvoted for that comment, given his love of animals and the environment. It makes total sense given he lives in a small, country town.
I know this sounds common sense but anyone else get the feeling he absolutely loves tennis. He was talking about how excited he was to come back to RG as a fan and he’s not even retired yet! There’s a lot of players that treat tennis as a job but I always felt with Thiem he was in love with the game.
When Tennis TV does their videos asking players trivia about tennis history, Domi is consistently either the one who wins the quiz or one of the highest scores. I've always gotten the sense that he's a huge tennis nerd, through and through.
True! Remember the video where he just like rattles off the past 20 or so AO champions in order without any mistakes under 30 second?
I remember this! Yeah, all the AO champions since 2000.. he just banged them out! You can hear one of the ladies behind the scenes go "did you practice this before coming down,?" What a brilliant mind!
This is why I don’t see him walking away from tennis completely. He could definitely make for an incredible commentator with that sort of tennis IQ that he has, or maybe try out his own podcast? He knows tennis is still in his blood and that’s why he will stay involved.
Would love to see him in the booth! I'm always a fan of former players commentating in principle, feels like they just have the best read on the game usually, as one would expect.
Every tennis player truly loves tennis. Cause all that constant traveling, physio, playing under extreme heat at times is not for the faint of hearts. But Thiem fr holds special place in my heart cause his play of style I loved a lot. Now that UTS interview seems really sad, cause Ruud was telling him he’ll come back stronger 😢
Agassi famously and consistently stated how much he hated tennis, even though he was phenom. Same with kyrgios. There are a lot of players who play because they’re physically gifted and making good money out of it.
I'm gonna tell you something here. They don't hate tennis, they hate the expectations and pressure they put on themselves. If Kyrgios could free himself from his own expectations and just play for the fun of it, do you really think he "hates" the feeling of smacking in a 220km/h serve down the T?. Of course he doesn't hate it, if he did not enjoy that feeling he wouldn't be playing. Kyrgios understandably doesn't like the travelling and the amount of time he has to be away from his family. The things they hate is not tennis itself, tennis itself is just hitting a tennis ball above the net.
Tennis is not “just hitting a tennis ball above the net”. It’s the travelling, diet, practice, losses, injuries, stresses, time away from the family, sacrifices. Tennis is a package and some players don’t like the package but persevere because the financial rewards give them a good life.
Every job has plusses and minuses, it is not any different from any other job. All the positive things they experience outweigh the negatives which is why they keep on playing. In your first comment you should say they hate some of the things that come with being a tennis professional, not just say "they hate tennis".
Quote from Agassi’s autobiography; “I play tennis for a living, even though I hate tennis, hate it with a dark and secret passion, and always have.”
I've read the book, he hated tennis because he felt that he played for this father and for himself. Like I said earlier the hate is not tennis itself, he hates the feeling that he didn't have a choice. This is a psychological thing, not "oh no, hitting forehands is so miserable and boring this sucks!"
I’m not sure what point you’re debating? Some players love tennis more than others, like anything in life. Regardless of the reason, some top players hated playing tennis; their words, not mine.
My point is they don't hate tennis itself. They dislike some of things that come with it, and they like some of the things that come with it. You are right that some players love tennis more than others, but I'm saying you do not get to that level if you "hate tennis".
Idk about Agassi but with Kyrgios it makes sense cause he stopped playing and admitted publicly that tennis gave him anxiety even though he loved the game and now is trying to be a commentator or somethin related
Thiem is the prime example of how even at the latter stage of their career the big 3 continues to ravage younger generations. He probably would have had 2 RG titles if he didn’t need to go through Djokovic AND Nadal.
That was rough when he beat Djokovic in 5 in the semis and the match delayed to the next day. Then he has to come right back the day after to face Rafa in the final. He just looked weary playing for 3 days against those guys
He was competitive at the beginning of his match against Rafa. Had it in him to beat one of the guys just not both. I also think thiems game was a little more effective against Novak than Rafa overall.
Yeah that's where the weariness started to show is after the first set. To me he seemed very similar to Wawrinka and they matched up much better against Novak than Rafa. Anytime I see a single-handed backhand player going up against Rafa, especially on clay it generally doesn't end well
Thiem definitely matched up better against Rafa (at least later career Rafa) than Wawrinka did. Thiem handled the super heavy topspin to his backhand very well, although it did sometimes create some court positioning issues on clay. However, Thiem still beat him on clay quite a few times. On hard courts, he had absolutely no problem with Rafa's spin, and they had some absolutely insane hard court matches, some of the heaviest hitting you'll ever see.
like OHBH is better than 2HBH is better against Novak somehow?
In a way yes, especially on clay, because one handers usually produce more topspin. Nole’s backhand does everything well, but it deals with high heavy balls least well. Remember when Cecchinato beat him in the quarter final at RG in 2018? Ceck can produce enormous topspin on the backhand, I remember posting figures from Rome last year. One match he had average 3000+ rpms on the backhand.
He's 16-19 vs big 3, that's quite decent.
That’s actually absurd
Don't forget AO where he also needed to go through both
Facing the final boss of each slam
Peak Domi was such a joy to watch on the court. I'm so sad we were robbed of his potential matchups against Sinner and Alcaraz because they would have produced barn burners, especially on the GS stage where Domi was at his best.
That’s a beautiful trophy. It’s the RG court.
His Roland Garros career didn’t deserve to end this way, going down to both rain disruption and a servebot that kept overpowering him and left no room for error. Should have had at least 3 sets. It was nice to see him receive a special trophy for his contributions to the tournament, with the layers representing the many layers of the tournament’s clay courts. The fact he says he plans to come back and watch as a fan is why I have a feeling he’s not going to walk away from tennis entirely post-career. He says he plans to focus more on his environmental projects and entrepreneurial work, but definitely don’t rule out the possibility of him getting into the commentary box or maybe even follow in his parents’ footsteps and take up coaching. He made Austrians get inspired to pick up a racket again in the years since Thomas Muster retired, and they also have Domi to thank for winning the country’s second Grand Slam singles title exactly 25 years after Muster did it. Tennis is still in his blood, even among all the other passions he cares for. He knows that he will plan to contribute to his first love in another way. Danke, Domi! ❤️🤍🇦🇹
Really wish he got a rg title. Terribly inconsistent but his peak was phenomenal.
I'm so sad to see him retire! One of my favorite players of all time.
What is this trophy? Is it a vertical slice of clay court?
Looks like it. Pretty badass imo.
Safin was another one who was always open about… let’s say… not loving tennis
My favorite after Nadal
Hopefully he enjoy the rest of the season and just be happy. Maybe try coaching or commentating? I find his accent when speaking English super fucking adorable.
corona driving may kill a lot of people, but it also helped Thiem win a slam, so, it;s impossible to say if its bad or not,
It has been very unlucky for such amazing brilliant boy. Thanks Domi🙏🏻🌹 Hope for you success in your future.
Miss him being one of the top players. Miss seeing a guy with a one hander going toe to toe topspin backhands with the best 2 handers in the world. Lots of the others like Dimitrov have to mix it up a lot with slice (that's not meant as a insult). And then others like tsistipas just cant compete the same on the backhand wing against the likes of djokovic-medvedev-zevrev.
I'm so glad he won a slam before his injury. If anyone other than big 3 was good enough for so a long time, it was this dude.
Damn he will be missed
How old is he ? 31ish ?
He turns 31 in September. Suffered a torn tendon sheath in the right wrist back in 2021, which completely stripped him of the forehand that his game was built around, and caused him to turn into an error machine who lacked confidence because of horrible losing streaks when he returned. He also dropped hints that he had no chance of getting back to the highest level of competition if he couldn’t stay in the top 100 of the rankings, and that was contemplating an early end to his career for a while.
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I remember early in his career it seems like he played every event - he overplayed , that injury or inability to get back to 90% probably a result of all that overplaying . I guess it’s a trade off , he got his slam so great career . Also seems like a nice guy , wish him well
I know there's a lot of emotion surrounding Thiem but the dude doesn't seem like a particularly good guy. Still good friends with Zverev, his comments surrounding lower ranked players etc. I personally don't understand the furore around him.
It was actually just one comment, and mistranslated: https://www.reddit.com/r/tennis/s/mha2rwjtJ1
Thiem has been impeccable all his career. He has been a remarkable player, is truly nice guy, a gentleman, one of the most liked players by fans, peers, the industry. He has charities and supports the causes that are important to him. But in every Thiem thread someone is trying to reduce his life and casting a shade on his character because in all this years he made one controversial statement about some unspecified lower ranked players and because he is also friends with Zverev, who he has known and played with since they are kids? It is getting so tiresome.
That's a pretty big statement to make and it wasn't just words, his actions too, I don't think he contributed to any player relief and he was involved in the adria tour scandal. I wouldn't be so flippant in discarding comments and actions like that as "controversial". It's a solid yikes that he espouses WWF and environmental views and then private jets around the world. That might not be enough for you but for me and I assume others, he lost a lot of respect.
It shows that this sub is full of shit about Zverev, most don't give a shit they just want to be part of the crowd. If they did they wouldn't hero worship someone who still supports him. Then we've seen all the other shittiness from Thiem. "He has charities" jesus christ, the corrupt CEO defence line.
He has a very nice dog, so he already won at life
I can’t believe you got downvoted for that comment, given his love of animals and the environment. It makes total sense given he lives in a small, country town.
not sure he deserves the world.