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Former US Open champion Dominic Thiem says it "hurts" to retire from tennis at the age of 31 but he believes it is the "right decision".
The Austrian's career came to an end with a straight-set defeat by Italy's Luciano Darderi in the first round of the Vienna Open, with Thiem having announced last week that he would retire after his home tournament.
The former world number three, who won the Vienna title in 2019, was beaten 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 by the world number 42.
"Those emotions, those feelings. Being in the flow, like I was in the first set. These are the things that will never come back," said Thiem.
"It hurts. But at the same time I was playing some forehands, especially in the second set, and they were not even coming to the net. So it was the right decision."
