Dominic Thiem thought about quitting tennis, but he never did because there was still a fire burning inside him to keep trying.
The Austrian international’s career turned upside down after playing a tournament in Mallorca in the 2021 season when he injured his wrist in the match against Adrian Mannarino. He was out for quite a while due to the injury and in the rush to get to the US Open, where he was supposed to defend his Grand Slam title, he picked up an injury in practice.
His conservative approach meant the Austrian spent more time away from the ATP tournament before returning to clay court the following season, but his play was unconvincing. Even though at first glance he began to show a qualified performance like before, his performance was still not convincing. It was a tough period for him, but he never lost hope even when he thought about quitting.
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“There were many, many really tough moments, but somehow, deep down, I had this feeling that I still had something in me, or I wanted to at least give it a try. If I didn’t have that feeling in me, maybe I would stop. On the surface, it seemed that I was losing hope. But within me, there has always been this little fire, this little light. If I didn’t have it, then maybe I would stop,” Thiem explained.
In the most recent match he played, he had to lose to tennis player from Denmark, Holger Rune in the second round of the Monte Carlo Open. But he remains positive about the fairly good performance.
The former world number 3’s form is slowly improving, positive news after a rather poor few months to start the 2023 season. Returning to clay courts certainly helps the Austrian who played quite well against Rune, but was not good enough to beat him.
“There is still a lot for me to improve, but I leave Monte Carlo with positive feelings. On to the next tournament,” Dominic Thiem wrote via Instagram.
He will be doing some Challenger events in the next few weeks, which might be a good idea to fully regain his confidence and find a good rhythm. He was also motivated by the French Open by trying to avoid qualifying.
