Former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem officially made his farewell from tennis on Tuesday when the 31-year-old Austrian lost a first-round match at the Erste Bank Open to Luciano Darderi in Vienna.

The homecountry fans gave Thiem top-level support but Darderi of Italy posted a 7-6 (6), 6-2 victory. After the match, Thiem received a thunderous ovation and his racket was placed in a glass case.

“I’ve had so many nice goodbyes in the last few months, but today I want to say thank you for all the sensational years,” Thiem said to the crowd after the match. “I am only a part of this career. The whole journey has been an absolute dream and I want this afternoon, this evening to be yours. I couldn’t have imagined it any better. Thank you!”

The former World No. 3 never regained his form after a major right wrist injury in 2021. He beat Alexander Zverev to win the 2020 U.S. Open, twice lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open final (2018-19) and also lost to Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open final in 2020.

A winner of 17 ATP singles titles during his 14 pro seasons, Thiem was ranked 318th entering the match with Darderi.

Thiem led 4-2 in the opening set before Darderi recovered to win it in a tiebreaker. Darderi then cruised in the second set, finishing off Thiem with a solid forehand before greeting him at the net to extend his own congratulations.

Thiem had edges of 11-6 in aces and 29-21 in winners but Darderi made fewer unforced errors (16 to 25) and won 14 of 15 net points (93.3 percent). He also won 82.5 percent (33 of 40) of his first-serve points.

After announcing his retirement in May, Thiem recently told ATP.com that he has no regrets.

“When I think back on my career, the main emotions are really big gratitude for everything I was able to experience,” Thiem said. “I was very lucky to stay healthy (most of) the time to be able to realize basically all my dreams. And yeah, I was never expecting a career like that when I was young. All I wanted was to be a professional tennis player, whatever comes with it.”

–Field Level Media