Since his run to the semifinals of the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, Grigor Dimitrov has experienced more ups and downs than some players experience in their careers. Life has been testing for the Bulgarian on the tour, but things could be changing for the better thanks to a new perspective on his game.
This year has seen Dimitrov at his best and at his worst. He has shown his potential by reaching three ATP Finals in Sydney, Istanbul and Beijing. The 25-year-old has also recorded wins over top 10 players Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal. On the other hand, a run of five consecutive first round losses earlier this year has reminded the Bulgarian that his season has been far from perfect.
There has never been any doubt surrounding the talent of Dimitrov, who was once compared heavily with Roger Federer. The challenge is trying to convert that talent into consistency and maintaining a strong mentality on the court. At the Istanbul Open, the world No.18 made world headlines, but for all the wrong reasons. Losing in the final after leading by a set and 5-2, Dimitrov wasn’t afraid to show his anger as he broke numerous rackets and was eventually defaulted to hand Diego Schwartzman his first ATP title.
The end of the Schwartzman-Dimitrov match. pic.twitter.com/rUztLEXOKI
— Parsa (@Parsa_Nemati) 1 May 2016
Since his Turkish meltdown, Dimitrov has apologise from his behaviour and more importantly learned from his mistakes. Like every other player, winning titles in the primary focus of the 25-year-old. On the other hand, Dimitrov has realised that his focus on silverware has been hindering his performance.
“I put myself under pressure. What I know is that I can beat all the best players (except Roger Federer). So I know how far I can go.” Said Dimitrov in an interview with L’Equipe. “But my approach was not good. I told myself that I had to win every tournament I played. I had it all wrong. Everyone is capable of hitting a backhand or forehand.”
“The real question is: how to manage my mental strength, physical fitness, how I get on in a tournament? In the past, I was very impatient. I did not understand why I lost against a player who had never beaten me. I think I better respect the game and (my) opponents. I respect my workouts. It took me time to understand everything.”
Since collaborating with his new coach Dani Vallverdu in August, Dimitrov has enjoyed runs to the fourth round at the US Open as well as the Beijing Final, his best performance in an ATP 500 tournament since 2014. There is still a way to go for the Wimbledon semifinalist to return back in the world’s top 10, but he believes that he is going in the right direction.
“I have become an independent player. I feel more in control of my game, my career. There is no secret behind it. I always loved working, always loved getting up in the morning to go to the gym.” He said.
Ending his season with a three sets loss to Novak Djokovic at the BNP Paribas Masters on Wednesday, Dimitrov is set to end his season in the top 20 for only the second time in his career. An impressive achievement after he dropped to 40th in July this year.
Throughout the final quarter of 2016 Dimitrov has displayed the mentality and form that is required of a top 10 player. Whether he can capitalize on this in 2017 remains to be seen.
Grigor Dimitrov’s ranking performance in 2016 (information and graph via coretennis.net)
