Sawt Falasteen - Austria's Grand Slam winner Thiem ends career cheered on by home crowd

Earlier this year, Thiem had announced his retirement from tennis, giving up on his fruitless struggle to fully recover from the injury he sustained in 2021.

On Tuesday evening, his Italian rival, 22-year-old Darderi, did not seem to dominate at first, winning the first set in a tie-break.

But the world number 42 gained steam as the match progressed, beating an ever more loudly grunting Thiem 6-2 in the second set.

"I would really like to thank you for all the sensational years, because of course I am only a part of this all, the whole career," Thiem told the cheering crowd after the match.

"A huge thank you to everyone for their support over the years. The whole journey was an absolute dream," he said to his almost 10,000 fans, which celebrated him with standing ovations.

Former world number three Thiem, who is currently ranked 318th, needed a wildcard to play at the ATP 500 in Vienna.

The 31-year-old Austrian's career has nose-dived since his crowning moment in 2020 when he beat Alexander Zverev in the Covid-affected US Open final behind closed doors.

Back then it appeared that he was finally poised to challenge the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

However, his career took a turn for the worse in mid-2021 when he suffered serious ligament damage competing in Mallorca, and was forced to sit out the rest of the year.

He played just two Slams in 2022 and his ranking fell to outside the top 100 for the first time in over a decade.

Heading into his final ATP tournament on Tuesday, Thiem, who went pro in 2011, had won just two main draw matches all year.

Throughout his career, Thiem won 17 career titles and more than $30 million in prize money.

Over the weekend, current and former tennis players including Zverev -- who Thiem faced one last time for fun on court -- and Boris Becker paid tribute to the Austrian in a farewell party attended by thousands of fans at Vienna's Stadthalle.

Video messages by Djokovic, Nadal and Federer were shown on Sunday, with many praising Thiem for his good vibes and camaraderie.

L.AbuAli--SF-PST