Past perfect, present tense: Dominic Thiem served a warning to the elite club with his New York run in the leap year (2020), but he has failed to sustain the momentum due to injuries, loss of form and motivation.
When Dominic Thiem won the 2020 US Open, it seemed that a new era of tennis had begun. After more than three years of complete domination by the legendary, but ageing, trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, who had swept the previous 13 Majors, it appeared that the old guard had given way to the new. Prior to Thiem, it had been six long years since a first-time Slam winner had emerged – Marin Cilic at the 2014 US Open.
Despite the fact that the tournament was disrupted by Covid restrictions and was played in a bio-bubble, it was a significant moment for men’s tennis. An injured Federer had already shut down his season by then and Nadal didn’t make the trip to New York.
Djokovic, on the other hand, was disqualified for accidentally striking a lineswoman with the ball during his fourth-round match. As a result, the competition provided the first glimpse of how men’s tennis could shape up in the absence of the ‘Big Three’.
Thiem, ranked No. 3 in the world, led the mid-card, which also comprised Alexander Zverev (the vanquished finalist), Daniil Medvedev, and Stefanos Tsitsipas, and he was the first to break through. That he had already reached three Grand Slam finals and beaten the top stars consistently made his ascent unsurprising.
A Struggle
However, two years and eight months since that victorious September day, Thiem is a shadow of his former self. He hasn’t added a single Tour-level trophy to his collection, has struggled with injuries, lost form and motivation, and has plummeted in the rankings. In June 2022, he experienced seven straight first-round losses and slipped as low as No. 352.
Although the Austrian has moved back into the top 100, the current tennis landscape is completely different from what it once was, as not one but two other players (Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz) have won their first Majors and subsequently soared to the top of the rankings. The likes of Jannik Sinner are also waiting to stake their claim, making Thiem’s climb back to the top even more arduous.
Thiem’s fall from grace has been nothing short of astonishing. Injuries in this era of tennis are par for the course, but Thiem’s style of play, which relies on explosive athleticism and physicality, involving whipped strokes laden with topspin, puts immense pressure on his legs, wrists and forearms.
Over the past three years, he has suffered knee injuries, a right wrist injury that kept him out for nine months, and an abdominal muscle injury during the 2023 Australian Open. In March 2022, just after his comeback, he tested positive for COVID-19, sapping any remaining energy.
Before the Indian Wells Masters in March 2023, Tennis Data Innovations quantified his decline. Thiem’s average forehand speed had reduced from 77.6 mph before the wrist trouble to 74.8, average topspin from 2978 rpm to 2674, and topspin use from 93% to 89%.
Emptiness
Thiem has also struggled for motivation. In this, he is not alone. American legend Andre Agassi has spoken eloquently about a certain “emptiness” he felt after having become World No. 1. Djokovic experienced something similar after the 2016 Roland-Garros victory, his first on the red dirt, which made him the first men’s player since Rod Laver to hold all four Grand Slam titles at the same time. The Serb needed more than two years to return from the wilderness.
“When you spend your whole life chasing your big goal, subordinating everything to it and then achieving it, things are no longer the same for a while,” Thiem told Austrian daily Der Standard in April 2021. “I spent 15 years chasing the big goal… without looking to the left or to the right. I achieved it under strange circumstances, [but] in a way, some things have fallen by the wayside.”
In the second half of 2022, Thiem finally seemed to have turned the corner, only to fall back into his struggles this season. Although he improved to finish with an 18-14 win-loss record last campaign, he lost nine of his first 10 matches in 2023. At the Estoril Open (Portugal), he was finally able to win back-to-back matches for the first time since Antwerp last October.
Despite his difficulties, the 29-year-old remains optimistic. While he may already be considering life beyond tennis,