{"id":785991,"date":"2026-07-26T19:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T19:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/785991\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T19:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T19:38:23","slug":"retired-u-s-open-champion-dominic-thiem-returns-to-competition-as-eighth-division-footballer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/785991\/","title":{"rendered":"Retired U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem returns to competition as eighth-division footballer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMWcxajNfc2h3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitc.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> Follow us on Google Discover <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>Dominic Thiem walked away from being one of the best tennis players in the world at 30 years old, but two years later, he\u2019s on the path of a different sports dream.<\/p>\n<p>Thiem peaked as the No. 3-ranked men\u2019s tennis player in the world in 2020 but retired by the end of 2024 after wrist injuries caused a significant downturn in his form.<\/p>\n<p>Now, at 32 years old, Thiem is trying to make a return to sports. However, instead of pursuing tennis or some other racket sport, Thiem set his eyes on soccer.<\/p>\n<p>Thiem has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisworldusa.org\/tennis\/news\/ATP_Tennis\/168269\/dominic-thiem-takes-on-unexpected-challenge-joins-austrian-eighthtier-football-club\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">joined Badener AC<\/a>, an amateur football club competing in Austria\u2019s eighth division. <\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t indicate a desire to climb to the top of professional football by the end of his 30s, but allows him to pursue a personal passion after reaching the heights he did in Tennis.<\/p>\n<p>The 32-year-old Austrian has been actively playing soccer since retiring, representing his hometown club SC Lichtenw\u00f6rth before Badener swooped in to sign him.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"704\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2269821054-1024x704.jpg\" alt=\"Chelsea v Port Vale - Emirates FA Cup Quarter Final\" \/>Photo by Chris Lee \u2013 Chelsea FC\/Chelsea FC via Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Club officials will reportedly treat Thiem as any other player on their squad and will not give special treatment to the man who was the best tennis player in Austria for years.<\/p>\n<p>Thiem collected 348 ATP wins over his career and lifted 17 ATP trophies, with his U.S. Open win in 2020 being the biggest highlight of his career.<\/p>\n<p>Thiem had the elite talent to call himself a rival of legends like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. His tennis career ended earlier than expected due to wrist issues, but his feet might allow him to enjoy a renaissance as an athlete.<\/p>\n<p>MORE DOMINIC THIEM STORIES<\/p>\n<p>Transferring to a new team in the lower levels of Austrian league football shows Thiem\u2019s dedication towards competing, but the fruits of his football career likely won\u2019t reach the heights of his tennis career.<\/p>\n<p>Join Our Newsletter<\/p>\n<p>Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Dominic Thiem walked away from being one of the best tennis players in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":785992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[32230,99,428],"class_list":["post-785991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-dominic-thiem","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=785991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/785991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/785992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=785991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=785991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=785991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}