Two days after losing in the first round of French Open, Dominic Thiem announced that he was parting ways with manager Herwig Straka.
Straka has been an important member of Team Thiem since 2019.
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“I can only thank Herwig for the work and commitment over the past two years and of course I accept his decision,” said Dominic Thiem in a statement.
“We were able to celebrate great successes together and stay in good contact.”
Hey everybody! It´s tough to digest yesterday’s early loss at one of my favorite tournaments! To be honest – it was just not good enough! Some percents are missing in every part of my game. Now it is essential to learn from this defeat and to get back to work straight away. pic.twitter.com/iO8zpPuKSl
— Dominic Thiem (@ThiemDomi) May 31, 2021
Thiem won his maiden Grand Slam at the 2020 US Open but has been struggling for form, and admittedly for motivation, ever since.
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A two-time finalist at Roland Garros, the Austrian, who was one of the pre-tournament favourites, was knocked out in the first round by Pablo Andujar in the first round on Sunday.
Straka, a former banker, is mutli-faceted. He is the tournament director of the ATP event in Vienna, will be in charge of organizing the 2021 Davis Cup Finals in Austria later this year and is also on the ATP Board of Directors as a tournament representative.
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The Austrian said that he was stepping down mainly because he couldn’t juggle the many roles any more.
“The different activities are certainly an advantage in many areas, but in the end it was difficult to manage all of them such as Dominic’s full-time management, the organization of the ATP tournaments, my position on the ATP Board of Directors – or even the Davis Cup,” the 55-year-old Straka said.
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“I hand over my agendas to Dominic’s family, who have created an environment that is well positioned in all areas.”
Thiem and his family was involved in a very public falling-out with his former manager Gunter Bresnik.
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Bresnik had taken the Thiem family to court for not paying his dues. The two parties reached an out-of-court settlement earlier this year.
