Dominic Thiem was born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria, on 3 September 1993. Both his parents, Wolfgang and Karin, were tennis coaches, and from 2002 he was coached by Günter Bresnik, who stayed with him until 2019. At 12, on Bresnik's advice, he switched from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand, the shot that became his trademark.
Thiem grew into a heavy-hitting baseliner, with a big forehand, a one-handed backhand he could drive with full power and a serve that reached 145 mph. He was at his most dangerous on clay, and twice he reached the French Open final, losing both times to Rafael Nadal: in straight sets in 2018 and in four sets in 2019. In March 2019 he won his first Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells, coming from a set down to beat Roger Federer in the final. Later that year he started working with Nicolás Massú, who helped him add a sliced backhand and more net play.
His best season was 2020. At the Australian Open he led Novak Djokovic two sets to one in the final before losing in five, and on 2 March 2020 he reached world No. 3, his career high. At the US Open that September he beat Alexander Zverev in the final after losing the first two sets, for his only major title. He also reached the ATP Finals title match in both 2019 and 2020, losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev.
In June 2021 he hurt his right wrist in Mallorca, and on 18 August he withdrew for the rest of the season. In May 2024 he announced that the Vienna Open in October would be his last tournament, and his career ended there in the first round against Luciano Darderi. He won 17 singles titles and 348 tour matches.