Dominic Thiem ensured his career didn’t pass him by without winning a Grand Slam title after he won the US Open in 2020.
He overcame Alexander Zverev in the final to get into the winner’s circle after losing in two French Open finals and one at the Australian Open.
Thiem reached a career-high number three in the world during his career, with the curtain coming down on his playing days at the end of 2024.
As a former winner, Thiem has been predicting who will win the US Open this year, and it would seem that he’s a huge fan of two players on the circuit right now.
Thiem does have some regrets from his career, and despite not playing the top players too often on the tour, he did see first-hand just how good Carlos Alcaraz would be at an early age.
Photo by GEORG HOCHMUTH/APA/AFP via Getty ImagesDominic Thiem shares what he told his coach about Alcaraz when he was 15
The world is really at the mercy of Alcaraz, and with five major titles to his name already, it’s scary to think how many he might finish his career with should he stay fit and healthy.
Alcaraz could get to six Grand Slams at the weekend, but first he must overcome Novak Djokovic in the semifinal, with Jannik Sinner likely to be waiting in the final.
The Spaniard has burst onto the ATP Tour at a young age and Thiem has recalled on the Business of Sport podcast what he told his coach when he watched Alcaraz play aged 15.
He said: “Alcaraz, yes. Sinner, no. I was practising with Carlos when he was 15 or 16 in Rio De Janeiro, and he was very skinny back then, but the practice was so intense, so I was talking to my coach after, and we were saying this guy is going to be amazing, 100%.
“And then I was practising also with Jannik one time in Monte Carlo, and you could see that he was a really good player, and of course possible that he was going to become a great player, but who knows.
“Maybe yes, maybe no. Luckily, he became one, but it’s very different.
“Sometimes you can see it and it’s so obvious, like I think with Rafa and with Carlos. And then there are players who are developing a bit later, where you cannot see it.”
Thiem reveals the ATP star who really surprised him
Intriguingly, the player who really surprised Thiem in the sense of producing a level of tennis that he didn’t think he was capable of was Daniil Medvedev.
The Russian player has been abysmal at the Grand Slam tournaments this year, losing in three first-round matches, but he has won a major.
Medvedev won the US Open in 2019, and Thiem has suggested that he never saw him being capable of winning a title of that nature after seeing him as a youngster.
He continued: “Medvedev. We had one match when he was younger than me, when he was 15 and I was 18, and basically, it was not even fun for me because he was just not good enough. But he became number one in the world and won the US Open, so that is simply amazing.”