What's next for Dominic Thiem? Solar electricity solutions and sustainable sunglasses

VIENNA—What comes next for Dominc Thiem, who will retire from professional tennis this week at the Erste Bank Open, won’t be a life slowed down. If anything, it will mimic peak playing Thiem—a guy who pushes himself to the limit, commits to getting every detail right and refuses to back down from a challenge no matter how difficult it presents.

The winner of 17 tour-level titles, Thiem trusts that the heavy load he took on as a player, along with learning to navigate the tricky the ups and downs a life on tour requires, has more than prepared him to juggle every endeavor on his plate.

Explains Thiem, “A season was from January to November without any break, traveling probably 40 weeks a year, not having a lot of time off. I think compared to this lifestyle, it's still pretty relaxed what I'm doing now. It's fine. I think those years were so intense that it's difficult to find something as intense as that.

“It's not a straight way up, not for any tennis player. There are very tough times, and there are great times as well. It's also going to be in my next chapter like that. I think I can handle it a bit better than I would without the career because I experienced pretty much everything. I don't think that there is a lot of stuff which can surprise me.”

The energy community is the first step of Thiem Energy. In the future, we want to go towards helping people more and more. There's a lot of work to do with that one. Dominic Thiem, to Matt Fitzgerald

The Thiem name can already be found on a handful of projects. The Wiener Neustadt native’s desire to help build a more environmental-friendly planet in response to the carbon footprint his tennis travels have left behind is well documented. His face lights up when he explains Thiem Energy, a company focused on developing community solar electricity solutions. The same can be said for Thiem View, which produces sunglasses made entirely from fully sustainable materials.

“The energy community is the first step of Thiem Energy. In the future, we want to go towards helping people more and more. There's a lot of work to do with that one,” he shares. “The sunglasses are amazing and have already been running (for) two years.”

As he readies to step out Tuesday against Luciano Darderi for what could be his final ATP match, Thiem won’t feel any sense of solitude on this occasion. For Vienna organizers dedicated Sunday evening to celebrating their humble warrior.

Good friend Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s top seed, reunited with Thiem for a friendly set of exhibition tennis. Jack Draper won the latest iteration of Thiem's One Shot Cup over Tommy Haas. Matteo Berrettini, Boris Becker, Frances Tiafoe and former coach Nicolas Massu joined the two among others to pay tribute to the local superstar, who was presented with a commemorative trophy by tournament director Herwig Straka before being showered with confetti.

Thiem kept it together when taking the microphone to say thank you. The Austrian is unsure if tears will flow when there are no more points to be played, conceding that he’s one to generally keep his emotions contained. Closing by asking the hometown hero what he aspires to be remembered for when his name comes up in conversations down the road, Thiem’s wish is three-fold.

“I hope that I am still remembered as a tennis player (with) a nice game style people love to watch. In the future, I would really love to hear that many kids started playing tennis or that people started doing sports because of me,” he says. “Jumping really ahead in time, it would be amazing if I'm connected with doing or helping to make the planet just a better place.”

Life may not progress in a routine upward trajectory, as Thiem notes. If his outlook on life and champion’s drive are any indication, there’s every reason to be believe Thiem’s impact will be felt for generations to come.

To read our entire feature story on Dominic Thiem, click here.