"I will never forget our first encounter," Thiem recalls his first match against Federer

Having been retired for a year, Dominic Thiem celebrated his 32nd birthday in early September. For the occasion, the former world number 3 was a guest on the Business of Sport podcast and discussed various topics in tennis.

The Austrian, who won his only Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells in 2019 at the expense of the Swiss player, leads Federer 5-2 and can boast being one of the few players with a positive record against the Swiss legend.

However, Thiem recalled their first meeting in the semifinals of the Brisbane tournament in 2016, an encounter the man himself is not likely to forget, as he shared on the podcast.

"Honestly, it was always a great experience to face him, but I will never forget our first match. It was in Brisbane. Apparently, he wasn't at 100%, he had a fever.

I was playing really well, and I thought that since Roger (Federer) was clearly not in his best form, I might be able to beat him in our first meeting.

But on the court, he just destroyed me (6-1, 6-4)... I'd even say it was enjoyable to see myself beaten in that way in that match," Thiem stated recently.