Dominic Thiem, the man who beat Alexander Zverev in five sets to win the 2020 US Open, is now trying to earn a starting spot at an eighth-division Austrian football club. That's not a fall from grace — it's just what genuine passion looks like.
The 32-year-old officially registered with Badener AC on July 15, confirmed by the Austrian Football Association. His path in was straightforward: a friend already at the club made the introduction. Manager Sergej Petrovic welcomed him warmly but made no promises.
"Everyone has to fight for a spot in the starting eleven," Petrovic said. Fair enough.
A proper footballer, not a celebrity cameo
This isn't a vanity project. Thiem previously made 10 appearances and scored once for amateur side SC Lichtenwörth, his hometown club. He's also spent years playing pickup football with fellow ATP professionals — by his own account, 15 to 20 organized matches against various teams, results roughly even. "There is not really a danger of injury," he told The Telegraph in 2019, which had a certain irony given what came next in his tennis career.
The wrist injury he suffered in 2021 essentially rewrote the rest of his professional life. He returned in 2022 but never got back to the level that made him one of the few genuine threats to Djokovic, Federer, and Nadal in their prime. He retired after the Vienna Open in 2024, having reached four Grand Slam finals and collected 17 ATP titles.
Now he's chasing something different. "Football is my passion. I hardly miss a Chelsea match," he said back in 2018. That quote aged into a punchline, and then into a career pivot.
What this means at Badener AC
For an eighth-division club, the registration of a former world No. 3 tennis player is a genuine event — local interest, media coverage, and presumably a boost in shirt sales. Whether Thiem can actually compete at that level physically remains the real question. Eighth division is amateur, but it's still competitive football, and at 32 coming off years of injury, his body will be tested differently than it ever was on a tennis court.
Petrovic's measured tone suggests the club isn't treating this as a circus act. Thiem will be expected to train, compete for his place, and earn minutes — same as everyone else.
"We've heard that he's a good player," the manager added. That's the bar. Show it on the pitch.
