THERE has been no shortage of tennis legends retiring in 2024, and Austrian star Dominic Thiem joined fellow Grand Slam winners Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray on the sidelines after his career came to an end in his home nation overnight.

Coming into the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, the Austrian – who had more than his fair share of injuries over the journey – had announced it would be his “last dance” and drew talented young Italian Luciano Darderi in the first round. While the home crowd willed on the former number three to post at least one more win, the 22-year-old held his nerve on the occasion to win 7-6 6-2.

Thiem showed glimpses of his star power that lead him to a US Open title, but the recently turned 31-year-old was unable to sustain it after going down 8-6 in the first set tiebreaker. Darderi quickly took control and only dropped four points on serve – including a double fault – in the second set, while breaking twice without facing a break point himself.

Thiem had not gone down without a fight, serving 11 aces and winning 69 and 54 per cent of his first and second serve points. He also created five break point chances in the first set, but could only convert one, and despite producing seven aces, could not get the job done and eventually went down in 91 minutes on Center Court.

A 17-time ATP Tour level champion, Thiem was best known for his fluent backhand and fighting spirit. While injuries got the best of him in his later years, the claycourt star – who fell short of Roland Garros titles due to Nadal – described his career as a “dream”.

“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. “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!”

Darderi will now take on seventh seeded Brit Jack Draper in the second round after he overcame Japanese wildcard Kei Nishikori, 7-6 7-5. Other seeds to advance included second seed Alex de Minaur, fifth seed Frances Tiafoe and sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti.

Musetti won an all-Italian battle against Lorenzo Sonego, with Gael Monfils beating qualifier Quentin Halys in the all-French clash, while in-form American Marcos Giron knocked off Next Gen compatriot Alex Michelsen too. Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic was the other winner on day two, overcoming Argentinian Mariano Navone in straight sets.

AROUND THE TOUR

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas barely survived a two-and-a-half-hour thriller against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in Basel, with the Greek star eventually winning 6-3 6-7 7-6 to move through to the Round of 16. He was joined in there by fellow seeds Holger Rune and Ben Shelton who won in straight sets over respective South Americans Nicolas Jarry and Tomas Etcheverry.

In other results, wildcard duo Denis Shapovalov and Dominic Stricker both overcame tricky opponents in relatively straightforward matches. Shapovalov defeated Chinese teenager Juncheng Shang 6-1 6-4, while Stricker took care of Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. It was better news for Dutch fans on Court 1 with qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp too good for Alexander Bublik, while Chilean Alejandro Tabilo defeated veteran Marin Cilic in two tiebreakers.