Dominic Thiem Announces Return To Tennis Court For Exhibition Match

Those who have missed Dominic Thiem's powerful hitting and fluid style will be excited for next week's 2025 Hamburg Open.

Thiem retired on home soil in October at the 2024 Vienna Open. He had suffered from a chronic wrist injury since 2021 and was never the same player in the last few years before eventually stepping away from professional tennis.

Since retiring, the 2020 US Open champion has mostly kept a low profile. After being a professional player on the ATP Tour for so long and enduring much worse results in the last few years, Thiem's choice not to be in the spotlight much is entirely understandable.

German fans at the WTA 250 event in Hamburg, scheduled from July 14th until 20th, have an opportunity to watch Thiem and one of the country's best former men's players compete in an exhibition.

In a video posted on the Hamburg Open's social media pages, Thiem announced his and Haas' exhibition while speaking German. This will undoubtedly increase ticket sales for the tournament.

Although several notable names are on the Hamburg Open entry list, including home favorite Tatjana Maria, the recent 2025 Queen's Club Championships winner, WTA 250 tournaments often lack star quality.

That is because of strict WTA rules on how many top players can enter 250-level tournaments. This is done to attract the best women in the sport to compete at WTA 500 events and generate attention with interesting matchups.

The Hamburg Open and the 2025 Iasi Open, held during the same week, are both 250-level. Therefore, they might feel unfortunate to operate under the rules despite the fact that no WTA 500 tournament is occurring.

That situation meant any mechanism to boost attendance and ticket sales for the tournament was welcome. Thiem and four-time Grand Slam semifinalist Haas' exhibition is an ideal way to ensure that happens.

Thiem is one of several men's players to step away from tennis in the last 12 months. Those who grew up watching the generation before Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz's emergence in the last few years have dealt with many retirements.

The most high-profile of them was Rafael Nadal. He made his final appearance at the 2024 Davis Cup Finals in Malaga, although the ceremony he received was criticized by many, including his uncle and former long-term coach Toni Nadal.

May's ceremony at the 2025 French Open was met with much more praise. The 14-time champion at Roland Garros became emotional when his footprint was left on Court Philippe-Chatrier to be kept forever.

Richard Gasquet ended his lengthy career at this year's French Open. The French tennis legend bowed out after playing world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. It felt like a fitting end to an amazing career that began all the way back in 2002.

Fabio Fognini announced his retirement on Wednesday. He had been set to play until the end of 2025, but decided to call it a day after playing a five-set match with Carlos Alcaraz at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. The Italian felt it was the perfect way to bow out.