Dominic Thiem

Photo: ATP Tour/Getty Images.

Photo: ATP Tour/Getty Images.

Thiem's Dream: Passion & Purpose

Dominic Thiem writes about winning the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, how he became interested in sustainability and why despite his recent retirement, his most important match has just begun.

When I was told I would be named the recipient of the 2024 Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award, I looked at the list of champions who have won the honour before me.

Arthur Ashe. Andre Agassi. Roger Federer. Rafael Nadal. Novak Djokovic. Those are just a few.

That is just a small sample. They all have done amazing things and created really helpful projects to benefit many people around the world. I'm super proud that my name could even be mentioned alongside theirs. 

Funny enough I won the biggest title of my career, the 2020 US Open, inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. But to me, Arthur Ashe is always the person and the player, not the stadium. When I hear his name, I always think first about who he was as a human being and the great impact he had, and still has today on communities throughout the world.

Inspired by people like Arthur, I also want to give back in my own way. Many of you know that last month I played the final tournament of my career in Vienna. At 31, I am pretty young to retire given how long some people are playing tennis. But for a long time, my dream was to dive into something completely outside of the sport when it was time to hang up my racquet.

That is why I am thankful to be super passionate about sustainability and helping educate people about it.

Dominic Thiem

Thiem won the 2020 US Open inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images.

Thiem won the 2020 US Open inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Photo: Al Bello/Getty Images.

Looking back, it was always around me in some way. My mom, Karin, is a longtime vegetarian.  It was really nice to have chicken in the garden, and to have three or four pigs as pets. That was normal to my family, because we grew up like that. It took years to truly realise how vital sustainability is.

One day, long after I began my professional career, I was scrolling social media and there was a picture with animals tangled in plastic. I clicked through to read the article and that was a life-changing moment. I read about how we actually eat plastic and pollute the seas. That really stuck with me and I began paying closer attention to these things and how they affect our planet and the animals.

When you get a bit older, you care more and more about the new generation and those who will come after us. I have been lucky to see kids around the world, especially in my case, on the tennis courts. They are having so much fun and care a lot about the sport. The problem is, if everything continues the way it is now, the outside conditions probably will not allow for people to follow their passions. That was one of the biggest eye openers for me.

Climate change is visible in cities where our tournaments are played. One of the biggest titles I won early in my career came in 2016 in Acapulco. It was my first hard-court trophy and an amazing memory for me. I greatly enjoyed playing there. I remember it as such a nice place with green beaches and the courts were great. 

They built a completely new venue and since then, Acapulco was hit twice by a hurricane, flooding the city. That has been very, very sad and devastating for the people there and those of us who love Acapulco.

There was also dramatic flooding this summer in Austria, and my parents’ home was close to suffering damage. It is no longer the case that you just read about these terrible events happening somewhere else. For most of us, it is right in the neighbourhood. That made me think a lot, and it should make you do the same.

Dominic Thiem

Photo: Dominic Thiem.

Photo: Dominic Thiem.

Dominic Thiem

Thiem with a white-tailed eagle. Photo: Marion Schindlauer/WWF Austria.

WWF Austria CEO Andrea Johanides and Thiem with white-tailed eagles. Photo: Marion Schindlauer/WWF Austria.

I had already involved myself in sustainability projects before my retirement, but recently I have dedicated a lot of my time to Thiem Energy, which provides clean energy at fair, stable prices in Austria. The first priority is to get as many people as possible on board, and, of course, to provide them with clean energy to help the planet. But it is also to give back to the community by offering fair prices, without focusing on profit.

I am also passionate about helping animals. About a decade ago I first met people from the World Wildlife Fund. Listening to them tell me about the impact people could make inspired me to do my part as well, and an animal I became particularly interested in was the white-tailed eagle, which is on the Austrian flag. It was considered extinct in several countries around 40 years ago, and they tried to revive the species in Austria, which turned into a real success. 

I'm helping them do that in any way I can. I’ve been able to watch up close when they placed GPS trackers on the young birds so they could learn how they were flying, where they were flying and more in order to support them. They even named one baby bird after me, so that was really nice. It is such a majestic and nice animal.

But it is not just about what I have done or will do. It is about inspiring others and help inspire them to make a difference. It's really important to communicate and to make it very authentic. Tennis players are not the best role models, because we take so many flights and have a huge carbon footprint. But there are things we can do to effect change.

The ATP nearly two years ago launched its Carbon Tracker, which allows players to track their tournament travel and better understand their emissions. This is critical to help players make more conscious travel decisions. We can also mitigate our impact by purchasing verified carbon credits.

It is so crucial that tennis players and athletes in general use our platform to make a positive influence on fans and help the environment. Ultimately, it also helps human beings, too.

I can only say a huge thanks to everybody who has been supporting me. I saw a lot of fans were sad that my career came to an end.

It’s important to me that they know I am still around and trying to make a difference. I could have taken time off from everything, but it is no time to relax. These causes are too important.

It would be super nice if my fans continue supporting me during this new stage of my life. My tennis career came to an end in October, but my most important match has just begun.

- As told to Andrew Eichenholz

Dominic Thiem

Photo: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour.

Photo: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour.