World No.3 Grigor Dimitrov admits that there are areas in his game that he needs to improve following his Australian Open exit.
The Bulgarian third seed crashed out in four sets to 23-year-old Kyle Edmund in the quarter-finals of the tournament. Suffering his worst lost (in terms of ranking) since going out to Andrey Rublev at the US Open last September. It comes after what has been a shaky campaign in Melbourne for Dimitrov. Earlier in the tournament, he overcame blips in his matches against Mackenzie McDonald and Rublev.
“I think overall it wasn’t a bad one, but certainly wasn’t where I wanted to be.” Dimitrov concluded about his Australian Open run.
“That’s at least the positive thing, that there’s a little bit of a room that I feel I can improve quite a few weeks ahead of me. I need to be smart the way I’m practicing now, not to overdo it again, but in the same time make sure I find my rhythm again, my game itself a little bit, the elements when I play.”
Focusing on the positives of his run, it is the fourth time that Dimitrov has managed to reach the last eight of a major tournament. Melbourne remains his most successful grand slam with 20 matches wins under his belt. Dimitrov is currently ranked third in the world following his run at the ATP Finals title last November.
“I’m very critical with myself. I always want a lot from myself. When I don’t reach a certain goal that I’ve planned, it really drops me down.” The 26-year-old explained.
“It makes me sad. But those are the moments that I think I’ve learned throughout the years, especially last year after here was tough after I lost the semifinal. But, again, I still had to kind of lift myself up and kind of go on, like pick myself up, dust myself off.”
One area of improvement he is seeking concerns his serve. Against Edmund he produced seven double faults and won 53% of his second service points. To put this into perspective, he has only managed to win 50% or more second service points in two out of his five matches in Melbourne.
Dimitrov’s winning second service rate
R1 – 58%
R2 – 28%
R3 – 38%
R4 – 40%
QF – 53%
“I’ve been thinking since day one, even Brisbane, I still felt that I have not served well enough.” Admits Dimitrov.
“Definitely that’s one of the things I’ve struggled a lot in the past week. That’s one thing I know if I can turn around, make sure I’m a bit more consistent.”
Admiration for Edmund
Despite suffering disappointment, Dimitrov has praised the efforts of his rival. The Brit was playing in his first grand slam quarter-final and has become only the sixth male player from his country to reach the last four of a major tournament in the open era. He is also set to break into the top 30 on the ATP Emirates rankings for the first time in his career.
“Kyle deserves all the respect. He deserved to win, simple as that,” said Dimitrov.
“He’s been working so hard the past months. I’ve seen that. [I’ve] played him a couple of times.
“I take full responsibility of my match today. There’s no point for me to say what I did wrong because I can sit here and talk about it, but it’s all about him right now. He’s the winner.”
Edmund will play either Rafael Nadal or Marin Cilic in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Dimitrov is set to return to action in the second week of February at the Sofia Open in his home country of Bulgaria.
