Coco Gauff had one word for the retiring Dominic Thiem’s emotional goodbye on the ATP Tour.
The Austrian is playing in Austria this week, his home Vienna Open, and in an emotional interview admitted that he placed too much emphasis on winning the 2020 U.S. Open.
Gauff, a U.S. Open champion herself in 2024, agreed with the former world no.3 who called time on his career as wrist took it’s toll and ended his career earlier than planned.
Thiem was meant to kick-start a new generation of tennis stars as he became the first man born in the 1990s to win a Grand Slam when he defeated Alexander Zverev to win the U.S. Open four years ago.
However, the Austrian has struggled to stay fit following his championship and was never able to recover his form or live up to the highs of his major breakthrough.
He will retire at the end of the 2024 ATP season, and a final week of playing in his homeland has already brought about plenty of emotion.
Gauff has been dealing with the burden of expectation ever since her breakthrough as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019 – and it wasn’t until last year that she claim her maiden Grand Slam.
The American took to Instagram to echo her own thoughts by adding the word ‘real’ to a screenshot of tiebreak_tennis’ quotes from Thiem’s emotional interview with Tennis Majors.
Now as he prepares to end his career in his native country Austria at the Vienna Open, the 31-year-old shared the sobering reality of winning a grand slam – in quotes that resonated with Gauff.
“Honestly, when I look back, I realise that I gave it too much importance,” the post quotes Thiem as saying.
“I thought it would make me happy forever, that it would change my life… but that’s not how it is. It’s an illusion. The truth is that nothing changed. And honestly, if in 20 years, I’m still here, no one will care if I was a Grand Slam champion or not.
Thiem is unlikely to add to his 17 ATP titles and lost three Grand Slam finals before his Flushing Meadow breakthrough.
“At that moment, I didn’t think that way. I thought that if I didn’t win a Grand Slam, my career wouldn’t be good, and I would always have doubts.
“It wasn’t an easy situation. It’s very nice to have that trophy at home, but in the end, it’s just a trophy; it shouldn’t make a difference in life. That’s how I see it now.”
Gauff may have found solace in the Austrian’s comments as she has openly spoken about her struggles and the expectations on her that have developed since winning in New York.
The current world no.3 has failed to reach another major singles final since her maiden Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
“I feel like I have to work on consistency, overall,” Gauff who lost in the second round in New York told the WTA Tour earlier this year.
Despite winning two singles titles and a Roland Garros doubles crown this year, Gauff admitted that she expects better of herself in 2025 but chose to focus on the positive, including an iconic Olympics moment.
“So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be flag bearer. It’s perspective,” Gauff said.
“Obviously because I’m wanting to reach a different level, it is disappointing, but I’m not going to beat myself up and be, like, this was so bad. Yeah, I expect better, but at the end of the day, it happened, and I know I can turn it around.”
Gauff will end her 2024 season with a chance to win the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November and then look to rest before she kicks off 2025 by teaming up with Taylor Fritz at the United Cup in Auckland.
