Dominic Thiem

Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest ranked Austrian player in history, behind former world No. 1 Thomas Muster. Thiem has won 17 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open where he came back from two sets down to defeat Alexander Zverev in the final. With the win, Thiem became the first male player born in the 1990s to claim a major singles title, as well as the first Austrian to win the US Open singles title. He had previously reached three other major finals, finishing runner-up at the 2018 and 2019 French Opens to Rafael Nadal, and at the 2020 Australian Open to Novak Djokovic. Thiem was also runner-up at the 2019 and 2020 ATP Finals, where he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev, respectively.

Thiem won the 2020 Austrian Sportsman of the Year award, the fourth time a tennis player has won the award since its creation in 1949.

Early life and background

Thiem was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria on 3 September 1993 to Wolfgang and Karin Thiem, both of whom are tennis coaches. He has a younger brother, Moritz Thiem, who is also a professional tennis player. Thiem grew up in Lichtenwörth and began playing tennis when he was six years old.

Thiem's father, Wolfgang, began working as a coach at Günter Bresnik's academy in Vienna in 1997, when Thiem was just three years old. Bresnik became Thiem's coach formally from age nine. It was Bresnik who advised the change of Thiem's two-handed backhand to a one-handed backhand when he was 12 years old. Bresnik has said that Thiem's junior results took a dip for about a year while the stroke developed. Thiem struggled with health issues when he was 17 years old, which he attributed to a large growth spurt of he had that year.

Junior career

Thiem entered his first event on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) junior circuit in early 2008 when he was 14. Thiem reached an ITF Junior Circuit ranking of world No. 2 (combined singles and doubles) on 3 January 2011. He did not play many events in 2008, returning with a fuller schedule in 2009. He won his first junior title at the Preveza Cup, a Grade 5 tournament held on hard court in Greece. Thiem followed this with another title in 2009 at the Grawe Junior Cup, a slightly higher level Grade 4 tournament, on clay in Croatia.

In 2010 Thiem won his first Grade 1 tournament on clay at the Country Club Barranquilla Open, in Columbia, without dropping a set. He followed this with a title in Peru at the Grade 2 Inka Bowl and another Grade 1 title at the 32nd Torneo Internazionale "Citta' Di Santa Croce" Mauro Sabatini in Italy. He was seeded eighth at the 2010 French Open Junior Championships but lost in the first round to Ashley Hewitt. He also lost in the first round of the US Open Junior Championships before winning the XXIV Yucatan World Cup 2010 and the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships back to back.

Thiem reached the second round at the Australian Open Junior Championships in early 2011. In May he reached the final of the 2011 French Open boys' event losing a close final to Bjorn Fratangelo, in three sets. He won the next tournament he played, the 12th Gerry Weber Junior Open, a Grade 2 tournament held on grass. He lost in the third round of the Junior Championships, Wimbledon, and in the first round at the 2011 US Open Junior Championships. Thiem completed his junior career by winning his last three singles tournaments, the XXV Yucatan Cup, the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships and culminating in taking the title at the Orange Bowl International Tennis Championship in Plantation, Florida, United States.

Thiem finished his junior career with a 115–33 win–loss record in singles and 49–32 win–loss record in doubles. He recorded victories over many future stars such as Lucas Pouille and Kyle Edmund.

Career

2011–13: ATP debut and first ATP win

Thiem turned pro in 2011, mainly competing in ITF Futures events and making his ATP main draw debut after he received wild cards to the main draw of Kitzbühel, Bangkok and Vienna. In Vienna, Thiem recorded his first ATP win over compatriot Thomas Muster, a former world No. 1 who had come back from retirement in 2010 after an 11 year break, before losing to Steve Darcis in the second round. In 2012, Thiem continued to compete mainly at Futures level, going 34–15 in matches with three titles. He received a wild card to Vienna for a second time, defeating Lukáš Lacko, before losing to Marinko Matosevic in the second round.

In 2013 Thiem competed in Futures and ATP Challengers, while also receiving wild cards at ATP Tour level to his home events in Kitzbühel and Vienna. In Kitzbühel he made it through to the quarterfinals by defeating the fourth seed Jürgen Melzer in the second round. He lost in the quarterfinals to Albert Montañés in straight sets. At the Vienna Open, Thiem reached his second quarterfinal of the year losing to the top seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, in a close three-set match.

2014: First ATP final

Thiem entered the top 100 for the first time in 2014, and was the youngest player to end the year in the top 50, ranked 39, having started the year ranked 137. He spent the first half of the year entering qualifying for ATP Tour events, and was successful seven out of eight times. Thiem began the year at the Qatar Open by qualifying for the main draw, but lost to Peter Gojowczyk in the first round. At the Australian Open, Thiem qualified for a place in the main draw. He defeated João Sousa in four sets for his first main-draw victory at a Grand Slam tournament. He then lost to 19th seed Kevin Anderson in the second round. In February Thiem qualified for the Rotterdam Open, and in the second round of the main draw, he pushed Andy Murray to three sets, losing out in the third. At Indian Wells Thiem qualified for the main draw and defeated American Daniel Kosakowski in the first round at his first Masters 1000. He recorded his highest ranked win to date in the second round against the 21st seed, Gilles Simon, in straight sets. He lost in the next round to Julien Benneteau. The next week he succeeded in qualifying for the main draw at the Miami Open but lost to Tommy Robredo in the second round in a tight two setter. Thiem received a wild card for the main draw of the Monte-Carlo Masters. But he was defeated in the first round by Nicolas Mahut in three sets. The next week he went through qualifying for the main draw at the Barcelona Open

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