Increasingly weary of international travel, Thiem said he was looking forward to spending more time at home and focusing on new ventures, such as involvement with his family tennis academy in Austria, and, interestingly, energy sustainability projects.

“I loved playing on tour, and I was very patient about it, but honestly, I also always really enjoyed to be home and to have, as much as it was possible, kind of a normal life at home,” he said.

“I really look forward to this one now, that the normal life is now coming. That’s why I think it’s not that difficult for me, and that’s why I’m really also happy with my decision.

“I think that the thing I will miss the most is, like, this feeling after winning a great match, it’s not really comparable to anything else. Like, you don’t really get this feeling, I mean, in my case, in life outside of tennis, because it’s, like, a real high. It’s like being on drugs a little bit, I guess.

“I know that probably this feeling is not coming back again, so this is for sure also the one I’m going to miss the most.”