“This was really the plan against Rafa. Now I can say it because I’m not going to face him anymore.”

Dominic Thiem is watching back one of many epic rallies he enjoyed against Rafael Nadal, explaining, in a demob-happy kind of way, his tactics against the 22-time Grand Slam champion who beat him 10 times in 16 meetings.

The Herculean task of beating Nadal is not something Thiem has to worry about anymore. Not because Nadal is retiring next month, but because Thiem is beating him to leaving professional tennis behind. He will say farewell this week, at the Vienna Open in his home country of Austria.

At 31, Thiem has been forced to retire because of persistent wrist problems. Problems that he told The Athletic in August were partly a consequence of trying to chase down the ‘Big Three’ of Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

It was a task Thiem took on with relish: only Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro have more career wins against Nadal, Federer and Djokovic than those three have against each other. Thiem has a 5-2 record over Roger Federer, and he beat Nadal six times and Djokovic five times, winning five of his final seven meetings against those two. Thiem, who won his sole Grand Slam title at the 2020 U.S. Open, lost two Roland Garros finals to Nadal and one Australian Open final to Djokovic — statistically the hardest and second-hardest Grand Slam final assignments in men’s tennis history.

Thiem, regarded as one of the most popular players on the tour, was blessed with a picture-book backhand, but also a devastating forehand, which he says often did more damage. He was extremely quick, pulling off spectacular acts of retrieval when all looked lost.

One of the most watchable players of the last decade, The Athletic sat down with Thiem to relive some of the key moments and rivalries from his career as he says farewell to the sport to which he gave so much.

“Thanks very much for all that you have given to all of us, particularly to tennis,” Djokovic said when Thiem was given a lifetime achievement award at the Lotterien Sporthilfe Gala 2024 last month.

“You know how much I admire you and respect you,” added Nadal.

goodbye i am sobbing

Nadal, Djokovic, Federer. they all respect him so much and know how great he was. it means the world to me. pic.twitter.com/PCo43fp7yH

— kieran (@opthiemist) October 3, 2024

That’s what his rivals thought, but what about the man himself? What were his greatest strengths and favourite shots, and how did he try to topple those three titans? This is Dominic Thiem, in his words.

Dominic Thiem’s backhand — a thing of beauty. (Julian Finney / Getty Images)

We start with the scene of Thiem’s greatest triumph, his defeat of Alexander Zverev in the 2020 U.S. Open final.

Thiem had lost his previous three Grand Slam finals — all against Nadal or Djokovic — and in the summer, told The Athletic that he felt a huge amount of pressure finally going into one of these matches as the favourite. He came out flat and lost the first two sets, before rallying to force a decider.

It was a strange match in a near-empty stadium because of the Covid-19 pandemic, and none of it was weirder than the final-set tiebreak. Cramps had ruined Thiem; tension had overwhelmed Zverev. Thiem ultimately hauled himself over the line, thanks largely to two forehand-passing-shot winners.

How weird was it to play with no supporters in the stands?

It was the end of the third, maybe fourth week in the bubble in New York and I really got used to it. The empty stadium wasn’t an issue at all. All the officials were watching so we had more spectators than before! It was like 100 people.

When we last spoke you said you were ‘too nervous’ for the first two sets, but then you found a way to get into the zone. The tiebreak feels incredibly tense, so what was going through your head as you hit those forehands?

There was not a lot going through my head because physically, I was on the edge. With the experience of all the former matches, you know that anything can happen — he hits an ace and then you’re match point down. I was turning off the brain and just playing — what you call ‘the flow’.

After a long, nervy rally, Dominic Thiem finally pulls the trigger with a forehand pass down the line (U.S. Open)

Is it hard to get into that state? Especially in such a big match when there’s so much at stake? And especially when, with the second point, whoever wins it is up championship point?

It can be. But it’s a really good feeling. Here, I was going on instinct.

With his distinctively big swing, Thiem finds another forehand pass to bring up a third championship point (U.S. Open)

For a while, Thiem was pretty much the only player who could go toe to toe with Nadal on clay. The Spaniard won both of their French Open finals, in 2018 and 2019, but Thiem beat Nadal on the dirt every year between 2016 and 2019.

One of those meetings came in Madrid in 2018, when Thiem won a quarterfinal in Nadal’s home country 7-5, 6-3. Thiem explains what his tactics were against the greatest clay-court player of all time…

This is against Rafa on clay. Most people associate you with the backhand and that’s your most famous shot. Here, you’re hitting an inside-out forehand after a succession of shots into his backhand. How much did you like hitting that as well?

People associate me with the backhand but when I was playing my best tennis I was constructing the points with my forehead. It was so heavy. I was putting so much power, so much spin on it. This point compared to the one against Sasha (Zverev) in the U.S. Open final was way more structured, and this was really the plan against Rafa. Now I can say it because I won’t face him anymore.

What was the plan?

Keep it on his backhand and then play fast into the forehand. He had a similar tactic, so the one on the offence first was dictating the points. This point was very structured and it was a great, great point.

After serving to the Nadal backhand, Thiem’s next five shots are all to that wing (Tennis TV)

So that’s what you were doing. And then you hit that forehand out to his forehand?

Exactly, yes. Because he has such a great forehand and so he’s always a little bit in the backhand corner to run around it. And the goal was to then play as fast as possible into his forehand.

Knowing Nadal is expecting to hit another backhand, Thiem goes for the kill and runs around his backhand to hit an inside-out forehand to his lefty opponent’s forehand (Tennis TV)

And that flicked little backhand there to finish.

Yeah, it was a nice shot, but it was again kind of instinct because it was a great drop shot from him. I had to do something special to win the point.

Nadal manages to retrieve the ball and then attempts a drop shot. Thiem though chases it down and flicks a backhand pass down the line (Tennis TV)

Of the Big Three, Thiem’s game matched up particularly well against Federer, who the Austrian beat in five of their seven meetings.

Thiem had the stronger backhand and so often had the edge if they got drawn into cross-court rallies where it came down to whose single-hander was less likely to break down.

In the 2019 Indian Wells final, which Thiem won in three sets for his only Masters 1000 title, a couple of backhands — one cross-court, one hit down the line — helped shift the match’s momentum after Federer had won the first set. 

This one against Federer, you’re a long way back — but you quite liked being back there and having that long lead-up before you hit your shots.

It was a great return. But the margins are very small to make it successfully, especially against a guy like Roger who could play serve-and-volley. So you have maybe 20, 30cm to hit the ball. It was an important point. Luckily, I hit it there at that moment.

Thiem is outside the tramlines and almost at the backboard when he takes this enormous swing and fires a passing shot return winner beyond Roger Federer (Tennis TV)

You didn’t always play with a single-handed backhand though, right?

Yeah, I switched when I was 12 (on the advice of former coach Gunter Bresnik).

What do you think are the pros and cons of playing with one?

You get a bigger swing. You can also put more topspin than most players who use the double-hander. You can also play the slice, which is very important.

I guess the disadvantages are a bit more with the single-handed backhand — you have to be really good to be in the world’s top 10 or 20 because the two-handed backhand is more stable in long points, and in the return and passing shots. The return is now one of the most important shots. Also if you see how fast the players are these days — Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner — it’s a bit easier to be stable in the rally. 

Still, there are exceptions with great one-handed backhands like Stefanos Tsitsipas and Grigor Dimitrov. They have exceptional ones. It’s tough and I’m worried it’ll be (used) less and less but hopefully, there will always be exceptions.

This is another incredibly powerful shot. How did you get so much power on it? Sometimes people think it’s harder to get as much power as a two-hander, but you manage that. Was that just your body type or is it timing?

That was the body type and the technique. I was practising so many backhands that at one point, the timing was there and yeah, with my body type, I generated a lot of power on the backhand and the forehand. That was what my whole game was based on.

What was it about your body type that gave you that power?

I had good stability throughout my body because I’m not the leanest guy. When I was playing well, I was very stable in the stomach and in the back. And that’s so important if you want to have a lot of power.

What were the main differences between those three guys and what were your tactics against Roger and Novak?

Against Roger, the tactic was always to keep him on the backhand, likely with a lot of spin — that was the only chance to keep him away from getting close to the baseline. Everything else, he was just too good. In Indian Wells or Madrid, it was a bit easier than on some other surfaces. Indoors where it was quicker was way tougher.

Thiem hits three backhands to Federer’s backhand before unleashing this backhand down the line for a clean winner (Tennis TV)

Thiem and Djokovic enjoyed some spectacular matches, including two five-setters: one at Roland Garros in 2019 and the Australian Open final the following year. In between, they played an even better match in the group stage of the 2019 ATP Finals where Thiem produced what he considers possibly the best shot of his career, in a 6-7(5), 6-3, 7-6(5) win that lasted almost three hours.

Part of what made their matches so good was the contrast in styles and the fact that Thiem was one of the few players with enough power to hit through Djokovic’s defences. 

This is a great volley from a 2016 match at the ATP Finals which maybe we don’t always associate with you.

Yeah, it’s not a technically perfect volley but it works.

Thiem shows off his stability and athleticism with a stunning volley (Tennis TV)

Look how low you hit it. What was your approach against Novak?

The tactic was to blow him off the court. That was the only chance I had. And back then, 2017 to 2019, I could do it (Thiem beat Djokovic four times in this period). That was my biggest weapon because from the baseline, he’s just too stable. He’s just too good.

This match from the ATP Finals in 2019 is from that period and you produced that kind of ‘blow him off the court’ performance.

Exactly.

And you collapsed to the floor at the end. You’re just so exhausted.

Yeah, maybe this one was the best best-of-three match I ever played and I knew that in that moment. That’s why I look so amazed at the end.

Thiem celebrates after beating Djokovic (Tennis TV)

That forehand. How do you get that power?

You can see there what I said before about the stability in the stomach. I slide in, I stay stable and adjust. And just go for it. And like I said, that was the tactic against Novak — just to try to blow him off the court.

That forehand down the line might be my favourite ever shot.

Thiem scuds a forehand up the line that even Djokovic can’t get to (Tennis TV)

How come? You’ve hit more spectacular shots.

Yeah, but this one was so difficult after a long rally. Sliding in I was going full power and it’s probably one out of a 100 chance that the ball goes in. It can also go into the middle of the net or like 50 metres out, but it went in on a very important point.

This one is from the 2019 French Open semifinal against Novak. Was it a deliberate body serve? Do you want the slow ball back because you’re happy generating the power?

Yeah, that was also one of my biggest weapons. Many players prefer to play with the pace of the opponent but I was fine if I got slow balls. I was even happy with them because I generated so much power myself.

A body serve leaves a tangled Djokovic only able to loop a return into Thiem’s hitting zone (Roland Garros)

Is that why you were one of the players who could beat Novak fairly regularly, especially on clay? He likes making players generate their own pace but you were happy to do that.

Yes, I think so, because I injected that extra pace in the middle of the rally to get him in trouble.

Thiem has enough easy power to wallop the ball beyond his stranded opponent (Roland Garros)

We finish with a few examples of Thiem’s eye for the spectacular, on the backhand and forehand sides.

This is against Nadal in Rome in 2017, a quarterfinal you won in straight sets. Did you always have the speed on display here?

Yeah, I was always really fast. It’s pure luck how your genetics are.

Having just chased down a drop shot, Nadal sends a backhand into the corner for Thiem to run after (Tennis TV)

You can practise it a bit but it’s a big advantage to be fast around the court and this backhand is really, really tough. It’s sprinting back and then hitting cross-court.

Is that harder when you’ve been running backwards rather than side to side?

Yeah, definitely.

Thiem not only gets there but manages to rebalance himself and hit a backhand cross-court passing shot beyond Nadal (Tennis TV)

This one is against Mikhail Youzhny in Halle, Germany in 2018. Again, this is just outrageous power.

The pace of the rally was pretty slow. Slice to slice.

When I had to increase the pace, I could do it — and this was a very nice backhand.

What’s striking about this one is how low it stays over the net. You think of single-handed backhands often looping up, but that’s barely over the net.

Yeah, that’s the one I like the most. It’s even going a bit inside-out because it has a bit of the sidespin and topspin. That was my favourite shot.

Really? So the forehand was often the more effective wing but this was your favourite shot to hit?

Yeah, the backhand down the line. Many players didn’t expect it. That was the shot that could hit clean winners and you needed to have that.

One of the things that made your backhand so distinctive was your ability to hit it in an open stance (with his feet parallel to the net.) How did you get so much power and stability doing that? It’s such a difficult thing to pull off one-handed.

It’s funny, something that happened over the years was that my left leg was much stronger than the right one somehow. And then automatically I started to play many backhands in the open stance. From the beginning we were discussing about it and if it was good or not, but in the end I was playing it really well from the open stance with the left leg so we just kept it that way and it worked really well.

In the example we just saw against Youzhny your left leg is planted, and the right one’s up in the air. Did you work on strengthening your left leg? 

No, it just happened naturally. I think it was because with the serve I was always jumping and landing on the left leg so it kind of happened automatically.

When you started hitting that open-stance shot, did you have to work on it a lot?

Yeah, but always from when I started the single-handed backhand, the down the line one was always a bit more comfortable to me than the crosscourt.

Why?

I just found that the technique was easier to play down the line. I almost played it inside-out sometimes, and that’s just how I started with my technique and that’s why I think I found the down the line easier. I tried it a lot because I knew it was one of my biggest weapons, and could surprise many players with that shot. Because it kind of came out of nowhere so it seemed like many times the opponent was very far away and that made it look even more spectacular.

This example against Nadal from an exhibition in Adelaide a few years ago is a good example of this. You hit a crosscourt return, and it looks like he’s expecting another one crosscourt, and then you send one flying up the line. You also hit it from so wide — did it give you a big advantage that with that strong left leg you could take a big step out wide? 

For sure, and when I was feeling good and comfortable it made me trust my baseline game a lot because I knew I could surprise everybody. I was able to stay in a crosscourt rally and then out of nothing play it down the line, and even when I was a little bit in the middle I could almost play it inside-out, and that was surprising everybody. I think to beat the best players you need that surprise shot.

Then this next one, against Gilles Simon, you run around the backhand in a way that’s almost Nadal-like. Given how comfortable we’ve just seen you were hitting backhands from this kind of position, what would make you decide to instead hit an inside-out forehand?

The main thing was that it helped my footwork to run around the forehand, to stay aggressive. I was tending to be a bit lazy on the footwork. When I was running around the backhand well to hit the forehand, then I knew that my footwork was on. That it was there.

When Simon hits his shot, Thiem is in the middle of the court and looks better set to hit a backhand (Tennis TV)

Instead, Thiem hits an inside-out forehand winner, and by the time he finishes the shot he’s moved so far that his left knee is outside the tramline (Tennis TV)

We’ve seen shots that showcase what made Thiem so special, and why he was one of the only players who could regularly beat the Big Three, but I wonder if there are any he thinks we’ve missed. 

Do you have a favourite shot you’ve ever hit, other than that one against Djokovic?

The tweener (between the legs shot) against Guido Pella at the Australian Open (in 2018).

This one?

Yeah, this shot is a bit underrated.

Why was it so good?

(We both laugh after watching it — given how self-evident the answer is to this question — before he slightly sheepishly responds.) You can see. It’s just… it’s really, really, really good. So fast.

(I let out an involuntary ‘oooh’ noise as we watch a replay)

Having been lobbed, Thiem chases back and produces this shot from between his legs (Australian Open)

How many tweeners have you hit in your career? 

I always tried it when I was getting lobbed. And this one, he’s on the baseline and it was a clean winner. I love this shot.

Normally tweener winners are with the opponent at the net whereas Pella’s at the baseline. And it’s so low over the net.

Yeah, so low. But no, I was just going for it and it was very lucky as well.

With Nadal and Murray exiting the stage, 2024 has been a big year for retirements in men’s tennis. Thiem didn’t win as much as those two, but he was a key figure in the sport for years. A disruptor, a genuinely popular person and a player whose beautiful technique pretty much everyone loved watching.

It feels sad that his years chasing down the Big Three came at such a physical cost, but he emphasizes how much he feels grateful to have shared the stage with them, rather than resentful that they often dashed his dreams.

Thiem says two things are most meaningful to him. The first is the hope that he has inspired youngsters in Austria to pick up a racket. The second goes beyond all the spectacular shots he hit: “I would love to be remembered first of all as a good guy. That if you come back at some point people like you and are happy to see you. That’s the most important.”

It’s a fitting sentiment for such a well-liked player, and as Federer put it: “Tennis will miss you very, very much”.

Dominic Thiem in full flow. (Julian Finney / Getty Images)

(Top photos: Quality Sport Images / Getty Images; Design: Kelsea Petersen)