Dominic Thiem joins girlfriend Lili Paul & team as he poses with US Open trophy in front of giant billboard celebrating his retirement in hometown

Dominic Thiem is officially no longer a tennis professional. He drew curtrains on a successful career, which began in the year 2011, at the 2024 Vienna Open recently.

In his final on-court appearance on the ATP Tour, Thiem played against Italian Luciano Darderi in the first round of the Ereste Bank Open in Vienna, lost 6-7(6), 2-6.

During his career, the Austrian collected a total of 17 titles, most notably at US Open 2020, and he reached a career-best of World No. 3 on the ATP rankings. The last few years of Thiem's career were marred by a wrist injury that ultimately led him into retirement.

After hanging up the racket in his hometown Vienna, he participated in a ceremony in front of the city's St. Stephen's cathedral. The 31-year-old was pictured holding his US Open championship trophy in front of a huge billboard hung down the walls of the church. He was notably accompanied by his girlfriend Lili Paul-Roncalli and other family members during the celebration.

"Thank you so much for this incredible surprise in the heart of my hometown, Vienna," Thiem wrote on Instagram sharing the pictures from the ceremony. "Eric, thank you and the whole Bitpanda team! I’m really grateful for how our partnership has grown and turned into a true friendship!"

Paul-Roncalli, who is a Munich-born professional dancer and author and has been seeing the former tennis pro since 2019, also attended Dominic Thiem's farewell match at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna.

On her Instagram, she shared a photograph of watching her boyfriend from the stands at the Wiener Stadthalle, the venue for the ATP 500 event.

Lili Paul-Roncalli's recent Instagram story.

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Dominic Thiem: "The wrist got just a little bit too weak and then it broke"

Dominic Thiem receives treatment on his wrist. (Getty)

Dominic Thiem's downfall began in 2021 when he injured his right wrist badly while going for a forehand at the Mallorca Open. Speaking about the injury in a recent interview, he said:

"It’s not really surprising, because I was obviously using the wrist so much, especially at the forehand, and it was one of my most important parts the last moments before hitting the ball to accelerate a bit more with the wrist." (via The Guardian)

He continued:

"I was doing this probably millions of times, and at one point, that’s also what the doctor said. The wrist got just a little bit too weak and then it broke. After that, I never had the same feeling."

Dominic Thiem ended the 2021 season as the World No. 15 but after February 2020, he never returned to the Top 50 and played his last match at the 2024 Erste Bank Open, ranked 318th.