Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem fell 6-7 (8-6), 2-6 to Italy’s Luciano Darderi at the Vienna Open on Tuesday in what was the 31-year-old Austrian’s final professional match.

The former world No.3 was emotional after his first-round defeat on home soil as he received a standing ovation from the crowd at the Vienna Stadthalle arena.

Thiem has struggled to reproduce the form that carried him to the 2020 Flushing Meadows title and announced he would retire this season after being troubled by a wrist injury in recent years.

Thiem had said this season was his last chance to get back to playing at a level he expected of himself and climb back up the rankings, before announcing his retirement in May.

The Austrian had an impressive career, winning 17 singles titles and reaching back-to-back Roland Garros finals in 2018 and 2019, knocking out Serbian great Novak Djokovic before losing to Rafael Nadal on both occasions.

Thiem also recorded victories over Nadal, his biggest coming in the quarter-finals of the 2020 Australian Open where he reached the final before losing to Djokovic.

Thiem is one of just two players — the other being Andy Murray — to have registered at least five victories against each of the ‘Big Three’. He finished his career with head to head records of 5-2 against Roger Federer, 6-10 against Nadal, and 5-7 against Djokovic.

Where does his impressive 16-19 overall record against three of tennis’ greatest icons rank in his career achievements?

“(It’s) very high up there. All the matches against the ‘Big Three’, not only the wins but all the matches, because I grew up watching them on TV,” Thiem told ATPTour.com after his loss on Tuesday.

“I remember the first match I really set my schedule for (to watch) was the 2005 French Open semi-final at Roland Garros. It was Federer playing against Nadal.

“All of a sudden, I was playing against all those guys. All the matches against them were an amazing experience and I’m very proud that I had so many of them.”

Written with inputs from Reuters