Dominic Thiem Is Ready For War: Don’t Even Think About Attacking Austria Right Now!

As part of his duty to his home country of Austria, Dominic Thiem has enlisted in the military. Trading his racquets for guns (?), Thiem will undergo basic training for the next three weeks as part of a six month service. He’ll still be able to play on the pro circuit once the season begins in 2015, but during off time he’ll resume his military training.

One of the rising young stars, the 21-year-old Thiem finished No. 39 in the rankings, a position he felt he would have never reached had it not been for a big win in qualies in Australia at the start of the year.

“Slowly I start to realise what an extremely noble year that was for me,” posted Thiem assessing his 2014 season on Facebook. “Last 16 at a Grand Slam, top 40 ATP. That is simply crazy. It still feels a bit like a dream when you are afraid of waking up because the dream is so beautiful. Here the review with my most important matches.

“Greatest moment was the atmosphere in Kitzbühel right after matchpoint in semifinals against Juan Monaco. I will never forget that moment for the rest of my life.

“Most beautiful win was against Stan Wawrinka in Madrid. There I realised for the first time that even the best of the best just play tennis.

“Hardest disappointment was the loss against Robin Haase in Vienna. A very bad performance just at my home tournament.

“I was lucky very often this year. But the match I was mega lucky was in the first round of qualis at the Australian Open. If I don’t break Rik de Voest there at 4:5 down in the third the whole season can very easily go into a completely different direction. To be honest I don’t think I would be top 100 now if I would have lost that match. The most important thing I learned in that year was that the tour is mega tough. But mega noble.
Thanks for your incredible support. Bamos!”

Mega Bamos to you Dominic, don’t hurt yourself defending your country!