Young Austrian tennis prospect Dominic Thiem looks a certainty to end fighting for the number one spot in the ATP World Rankings, but this would not have been as apparent at the start of 2014.

Thiem, 21, is currently ranked 43rd in the ATP World Rankings (6th April 2015) and emerged as a juvenile wildcard in the 2013 Bet-at-home Cup Kitzbuhel, where he made it through to the quarter-finals after beating fourth seed Jurgen Melzer before falling to Albert Montanes in the last eight.

Thiem reached his second quarter-finals of 2013 in the Erste Bank Open, where he had also recieved a wildcard, but lost to famous Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga in three tough sets. The Austrian ended this calender year seeded 139th.

2014 showed the real materialisation of Thiem's ATP career. The, then, 20-year-old qualified for all four of the Grand Slams and eight of the nine Masters 1000 series, including a run to the fourth round of the US Open.

The 2014 Austrailian Open saw Thiem fight through three qualifying round, beating second seed Martin Klizan on his path to the first round. In the first round, Thiem met Portugal's Joao Sousa and defeated him in four sets. Despite a strong first round performance, Thiem fell to 19th seed Kevin Anderson in straight sets in a second round encounter.

Thiem reached the main draw for an ATP 500 tournament for the first time in his career and faced British No.1 Andy Murray in the second round. The Austrian produced an impressive display when losing to Murray in three sets - having won the second. 

At the 2014 Mutua Madrid Open, Thiem qualified for a main tour event for the 7th time in 2014. In the first round of the main draw, he beat Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-2 to progress to the second round where he had the biggest win of his career when he defeated the world number 3 Stanislas Wawrinka in three sets.

This win made Thiem eligible for the first round of the French Open and he beat Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-4 7-6 6-2. The first round victory meant that Thiem faced world number 1 and defending champion Rafael Nadal but lost in straight sets.