Dominic Thiem’s Grand Slam career came to an end in the US Open first round as the former New York champion lost to Ben Shelton on Monday.
Austria’s Thiem won his sole major at Flushing Meadows in 2020, coming back from two sets down to beat Alexander Zverev.
However, he struggled badly with a wrist injury afterwards and announced in May that this would be his last year on the tour.
Thiem lost 6-4 6-2 6-2 to Shelton, and the two shared a warm embrace at the net before Shelton gestured to the Arthur Ashe crowd to show some appreciation for his opponent.
There was no crowd present when Thiem lifted the trophy four years ago because of Covid-19 restrictions, but the 30-year-old thanked those who came out to watch this time around.
He was given a framed collage of his best US Open moments in an on-court presentation afterwards.
“It’s actually a really important moment for me because I had my greatest success of my career here on this court, in a weird 2020 in very strange and different circumstances,” Thiem told the crowd.
“Unfortunately I had this success without any of you, so that was an amazing moment, but on the other hand pretty sad.
“I’m super happy that I got the chance to play my last US Open and I can spend some time with you guys, just to say thank you and to make the time up from what we missed four years ago.”
Thiem, a French Open finalist in 2018 and 2019 and runner-up at the Australian Open in 2020, hopes to retire at his home tournament in Vienna in October.