Dominic Thiem to play Luciano Darderi in first round of farewell tournament

Dominic Thiem is approaching his final match as a professional tennis player. Thiem, born in Austria, will play his last ATP tournament in his home country at this year's Erste Bank Open, which takes place from Oct. 19-27.

In what could be the final match of his career, Thiem will open the tournament by taking on Italian Luciano Darderi. Darderi is 22 years old and has a career-high ranking of No. 32 in the world.

He currently sits at No. 44 in the ATP Rankings. It will be the first meeting between the two players.

Dominic Thiem's retirement

Dominic Thiem announced his plans to retire from the sport back in May in a social media post. Despite being only 31 years old, the former world No. 3 has been struggling to find his form following a severe wrist injury, which he cites as one of the main reasons for his early retirement.

Thiem has won 17 ATP titles in his career. His last title came at the 2020 US Open when he defeated Alexander Zverev in five sets to capture his first and only Grand Slam title.

In his prime, Thiem was near impossible to beat. He was very successful against the Big 3, winning five matches against Novak Djokovic, five against Roger Federer, and six against Rafael Nadal. Between 2017 and 2019, Thiem was arguably the second-best clay court player in the world, and it looked like he would win at least one French Open title in his career.

Thiem's biggest title outside of the US Open came at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, where he defeated Federer in the final. That was just one of five ATP titles Thiem captured in 2019, as he also won in Barcelona, Kitzbuhel, Beijing, and Vienna, which is now where he will end his professional tennis career.

Although many will wonder how much more Thiem could have won had it not been for the wrist problems, he has still had an amazing career. Not many can say they won a Grand Slam title while all of the Big 3 were still playing, and not many can say they defeated each member of the Big 3, let alone as many times as he did.

Thiem will get the recognition he deserves at his home event, and there will be a huge crowd to celebrate his retirement once his final match comes to an end. Here's hoping he can turn back the clock once more and possibly go on a little run in his farewell tournament. It all starts with Thiem's first-round match against Darderi on Monday, October 21.

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