'The wrist broke because...' - Dominic Thiem talks about facing the Big 3 and his career-ending injury

Dominic Thiem won the 2020 US Open by defeating Alexander Zverev of Germany in the final.

Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem has stated that he considers himself lucky because he got to play against the Big Three of tennis: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic.

During a recent interview with The Athletic, Thiem stated that competing against the Big Three contributed to his wrist injury because his main aim was to get better at the sport at the time. He affirmed that he broke his wrist because of the hard practice sessions.

He said, “I was competing with the three greatest [Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic]. That was intense. It certainly contributed to the injury. But also, all the years before, I always had a big workload and intensity in my practice.”

He further added, “It’s something that doctors and many other people have said… that at some point, the wrist broke because of all the shots I did, all the hard practices I did, all the years before. I was always striving to get better and get even closer to the best players in the world.”

However, the Austrian tennis star also stated that he considers himself lucky because he got the opportunity to compete against three of the greatest tennis players. He also recalled the time when he broke into the top 100 rankings. Additionally, he also recalled being the ATP World No. #3 for a brief period in 2020.

Thiem later added, “I consider myself lucky to have been a part of that timeline with the Big 3 and all the other great players. I came up to the top 100 way later than most; they came up when they were like 18.. whereas I was 20 and a half. I didn’t think it would be possible for me to become a Grand Slam champion and #3 in the world.”

Dominic Thiem reached the final of the French Open twice, in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, he lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Australian Open. However, he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev to win his maiden and only Grand Slam title, the US Open, in the same year.

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Seeded second at Flushing Meadows in 2020, he defeated Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur, Felix Augur Aliassime, Marin Cilic, Sumit Nagal, and Jaume Munar to reach the final, where he took down Zverev in a five-setter. However, earlier this year, Thiem announced that he would announce his retirement from the sport at the age of 30.

The Austrian tennis star has received a wildcard for US Open 2024. He will face America’s Ben Shelton in the opening round fixture of his last Grand Slam. Thiem has a win-loss record of 2-7 this year.

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