Dominic Thiem has revealed he has started two main projects already as he prepares to retire from tennis in Vienna next week.
The ATP 500 event in his home country of Austria will be the last time that Thiem plays a tennis tournament.
After a glittering career which has seen him beat some of the greatest players of all time, Thiem will now call time on his career.
Although Thiem plans to stay in tennis the Austrian has ruled out a future in coaching for the time being as he focuses on his academy, “There is also our tennis academy. I think I can have some weeks off to get a little bit of distance from tennis,” Thiem was quoted by tennisuptodate.com as saying.
“But then I really want to help young players to develop and to make the step from a junior to a professional player. I want to give back to tennis, as tennis gave me so much. In the future I don’t know but right now, I don’t want to or I’m not planning to come back as a touring coach. I’m a bit tired of travelling, especially far away. And there are way better tennis coaches than me.
“But for sure, I had a lot of experiences which can be very helpful for young players. Especially, I would say in the age from 15 to 20 or 21, when there’s a lot going on and you have to make that step.”
Thiem’s Academy is one of two projects that the former US Open champion has already started with there also being one non-tennis idea.
The 31 year-old is planning to start an eco-friendly energy company in Austria, “Since the decision is made that I’m going to retire with the Vienna week, we already started two main projects,” Thiem explained.
“One is Thiem Energy, clean electricity from the sun, a project that I believe is for common good. Everybody can join it in Austria now, maybe one (day) internationally. And it’s a lot of work to do, actually.”
Thiem was speaking at a recent UTS event in Frankfurt and the tournament in Vienna will start on Monday.
