Grigor Dimitrov

Grigor Dimitrov
Dimitrov at the US Open in 2016
Nickname:	G-Force, Dimi, PT, Baby Federer
Nation:	Bulgaria
Birthday:	May 16, 1991
Size:	191 cm
Weight:	80 kg
1st professional season:	2008
Playing hand:	Right, one-handed backhand
Trainer:	Radek Štěpánek
Prize money:	$ 16,599,124
singles
Career record:	293: 191
Career title:	8th
Highest ranking:	3 (November 20, 2017)
Current placement:	52
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	44:57
Highest ranking:	66 (August 26, 2013)
Grand Slam record
Last update of the infobox: July 15, 2019
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

Grigor Dimitrov ( Bulgarian Григор Димитров ; born May 16, 1991 in Chaskovo ) is a Bulgarian tennis player .

Junior career

Grigor Dimitrov won the unofficial U16 Junior World Championship for the Orange Bowl in 2006 and was in the 2007 Orange Bowl final for the under 18s. In 2007 he was also in the junior doubles final of the US Open with Vasek Pospisil . In 2008 the young Bulgarian became the best junior in the world. In addition to three titles in futures tournaments, he reached the quarter-finals of the junior tournament of the French Open and won the junior tournaments of Wimbledon and the US Open . On September 8, 2008 he was number 1 in the junior world rankings. He then announced that he would now concentrate on the ATP Tour .

Professional career

2008–2009: First years as a professional

Grigor Dimitrov made his debut on the ATP Tour in 2008 at the age of 17 at the tournament in 's-Hertogenbosch , where he lost in two sets in the first round against Russian Igor Andreev . In his second tournament on the ATP tour in Rotterdam in February 2009, he was able to defeat the top 25 player Tomáš Berdych in three sets in the first round . In the second round he met the then number 1 in the world Rafael Nadal . In a close match he lost in three sets. At that time, Dimitrov and Swedish tennis coach Peter Lundgren made contact and Lundgren became Dimitrov's full-time coach. At the subsequent tournament in Marseille he was defeated in the first round in three sets to the then top 10 player Gilles Simon . He then played several tournaments on the ATP Challenger Tour , never getting past the quarter-finals. At the ATP tournament at the Queen's Club in London , he entered the peloton with a wildcard . In the first round he was able to defeat Iván Navarro before losing again very narrowly to Gilles Simon in the second round. As the reigning junior champion, he received a wildcard for the subsequent Wimbledon Grand Slam tournament . In his first round match against Igor Kunitsyn , he won the first set 6-3. Due to a knee injury he had to give up at 6: 3, 0: 6, 0: 4. After further Challenger tournaments Dimitrov played with a wildcard in qualifying for the US Open , but he lost in the second round. Until the end of the 2009 season he could not improve his world ranking position significantly, he ended the year in the top 300.

2010: Tournament wins on the Challenger Tour

Dimitrov in 2010 after winning the Apano Cup

The 2010 season began with a Challenger tournament in Nouméa , where he again did not get beyond the quarter-finals. In the subsequent qualification for the Australian Open , he lost in the first round. By the summer Dimitrov played other Challenger tournaments, in which he was not very successful. Before the ATP tournament in London's Queen's Club , for which he received another wildcard, he and his coach Lundgren ended their collaboration. Dimitrov's new coach was the Australian Peter McNamara . As in the previous year, Dimitrov won his first round match in London, but lost in the second round to the then world number 31. Feliciano López . The collaboration with McNamara seemed to bear fruit quickly, because at the subsequent Challenger tournament in Marburg , Dimitrov reached the semifinals, which meant his best result at this level to date. In the following time Dimitrov played again smaller future tournaments. He was able to win the tournaments in Trier , Dortmund and Irun within four weeks . As a result, he climbed to number 245 in the world, his best ranking to date. Then Dimitrov moved into his first final at such a tournament at the Challenger tournament in Geneva without losing a set. There he met what was then world number 118. Pablo Andújar , whom he defeated in three sets. In the third set he made up a 0-3 double break deficit. This was his greatest success to date, which made him one of the top 200 in the world rankings. After a two-week break, Dimitrov played two consecutive Challenger tournaments in Bangkok . Despite the switch from the sand surface of the previous tournaments to hard court, Dimitrov was able to get his best performance and won both tournaments. In the finals he defeated Konstantin Kravchuk and Alexander Kudrjawzew in two sets. Dimitrow's winning streak ended in October 2010 in Rennes in the second round against Frank Dancevic . But only two weeks later he reached another Challenger final in Orléans after defeating the top 50 player Michaël Llodra . There he lost in three sets against Nicolas Mahut , who attracted attention in July 2010 at Wimbledon with his record match against John Isner . Despite the defeat in the final, Dimitrov was now about to move into the top 100 of the world rankings for the first time. After losing the first round in Eckental and Aachen , he should have reached the final at the end of the season in Helsinki . After a first round victory over the first placed Tobias Kamke , he was able to advance to the semi-finals, where he lost to the up-and-coming young professional Ričardas Berankis in three sets. After the match there was an argument outside the field with the chair referee Daniel Infanger, in which Dimitrov is said to have pushed the referee with both hands and insulted. As a result of the incident, Dimitrov was fined 2,000 euros. He ended his best season so far in 106th place in the world rankings and was the best placed teenager on the ATP Tour at the time.

2011–2012: Establishment on the ATP Tour

Since he narrowly missed the direct qualification for the Australian Open 2011 , Dimitrov had to fight his way through the qualification. In the first main round he won his first Grand Slam match against the top 50 player Andrei Golubew in three sets , before he was knocked out against Stanislas Wawrinka, who was placed in 19th position, 5-7, 3-6 and 3-6 . Nevertheless, it made it into the top 100 of the world rankings for the first time. In February 2011 Dimitrov qualified for the main draw of the ATP tournament in Rotterdam , but then lost in the first round against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who later sat in 8th position . For the ATP tournament in Marseille a week later Dimitrov got a wildcard, but he was eliminated in the first round in a close match of three against Dmitri Tursunow . Also at the following tournament in Dubai he was eliminated as a qualifier in the first round against Richard Gasquet . At the beginning of March he was in Cherbourg for the second time on French soil in a Challenger final against Nicolas Mahut . After losing just under three sets in Orléans last year , Dimitrov won this time in two sets with 6: 2 and 7: 6 and secured his fourth Challenger title. In March 2011, he qualified for a Masters category tournament in Miami for the first time , but then lost to Serhij Stachowskyj in the first round . In Houston he was set for the first time at an ATP tournament, but he was eliminated in the second round against Teimuras Gabashvili . In Munich , Grigor Dimitrov defeated the fourth-placed Marcos Baghdatis 3: 6, 7: 6 and 6: 2 in the round of 16 after he had fought off two match points in the tie-break of the second set. In his first ATP quarter-final against Florian Mayer , he fought his way back into the third set, but lost it to the later finalist. After he was eliminated at the French Open in the first round against Jérémy Chardy , he was able to reach another ATP quarter-finals at the lawn tournament in Eastbourne by beating the top 50 player Kevin Anderson , in which, however, he was the eventual finalist Janko Tipsarević was subject. In doubles he even reached the final together with Andreas Seppi after beating the top seeded Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi . In Wimbledon he defeated the qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in the first round , but then lost after four fought sets against the later semi-finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who was in 12th position, 7: 6, 4: 6, 4: 6 and 6: 7 . In the following preparatory tournaments for the US Open , Dimitrov reached the second round in Los Angeles , Washington and Winston-Salem . Through these successes, he improved to his hitherto highest world number 52, which he could not hold until the end of the year - after early defeats at his following tournaments, he was 76 at the end of the year, his best year-end position to date.

In the first half of 2012 Dimitrov barely got past the sixteenth finals. He failed in the second round of the Australian Open to Nicolás Almagro , at the French Open to Richard Gasquet and in Wimbledon against Marcos Baghdatis. After the Wimbledon tournament he was able to book semi-finals in Båstad and Gstaad , the latter he lost against eventual tournament winner Thomaz Bellucci 6: 7 and 6: 7. This was followed by early defeats, such as an elimination in the second round of the individual tournament of the Olympic Games in London against Gilles Simon 3: 6 and 3: 6 and a defeat in the first round of the US Open ; there Dimitrov lost to Benoît Paire . With the exception of a quarter-finals in Basel , he could not record any significant successes. He ended the year in his best world number 48 position to date.

2013–2016: Further successes on the tour

Dimitrov 2014

The 2013 season began for Dimitrov with a final at the ATP tournament in Brisbane , which he lost to Andy Murray 6: 7, 4: 6. Some early defeats followed, including a first round defeat at the Australian Open against Julien Benneteau 4-6, 2-6 and 4-6. Subsequently, he booked a semifinal participation in the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam - 4-6, 4-6 against eventual tournament winner Juan Martín del Potro - as well as a quarter-final defeat against the later tournament winner 2-6 , 6-2 and 4-6 Finalist Rafael Nadal at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters 2013 . Dimitrov received special attention for his victory over the then world number one Novak Đoković, whom he surprisingly beat 7: 6, 6: 7 and 6: 3 at the Mutua Madrid Open in the second round. However, he then lost against the eventual finalist Wawrinka 6: 3, 4: 6 and 1: 6. He secured his first title on the World Tour in Stockholm when he defeated David Ferrer 2: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 4 in the final. With this victory he moved up to 22nd place in the world rankings.

In 2014 Dimitrov steadily improved month after month in the world rankings. By June he won a total of three titles in Acapulco , Bucharest and London . At the Australian Open , he had reached the quarter-finals for the first time at the beginning of the season, but had to accept an opening defeat at the French Open . In Wimbledon he reached his first Grand Slam semifinals after defeating Andy Murray in three straight sets in the quarterfinals. Against Novak Đoković he was defeated in four sets, but moved into the top ten of the world rankings for the first time after finishing the tournament in ninth place. In August he improved this record when he was ranked eighth. At the US Open , he made it to the round of 16 for the first time. Grigor Dimitrov was voted Bulgaria's Sportsman of the Year 2014.

In 2015 he could not confirm the increase in the previous year. At no tournament of the year he could move into the final. Only in Melbourne did he get past the third round of a Grand Slam tournament. In autumn he announced that from now on he would be trained by Franco Davín . After starting the year at number 11 in the world rankings, for the first time since 2012 he failed to place in the top 25 at the end of the year. Dimitrov was initially able to counteract the negative in early 2016. In Sydney he only lost to Victor Troicki in the final. In the following months he achieved acceptable to good results. He reached the second final in Istanbul in April. Here he was defeated by Diego Schwartzman , against whom he served in the match in the second set, in the third set with 0: 6. He destroyed several clubs in the process, giving away the last game of the set. After five first round defeats, including in Roland Garros , he only won another match at Wimbledon . There he lost in the third round to Steve Johnson . Before the tournament, he announced the separation from his coach. His new coach was Daniel Vallverdú . Meanwhile, Dimitrov was only 40th in the ranking, a three-year low. In Cincinnati , Dimitrov drew positive attention again when he reached the semi-finals after beating world number 4 Stan Wawrinka . Here the Croatian Marin Čilić was a little stronger. Both at the US Open in the round of 16 and in the finals in Beijing he was defeated by Andy Murray on his way to number 1. He was able to finish the year in 17th place.

Since 2017: Victory at the ATP Finals and first Masters title

The beginning of 2017 was very successful for Dimitrov with two tournament victories in Brisbane and Sofia . At the Australian Open he reached the semi-finals, where he lost to Spaniard Rafael Nadal after 4:56 hours with 3: 6, 7: 5, 6: 7, 7: 6 and 6: 4. In Cincinnati he won his first Masters title without losing a set after a 6: 3, 7: 5 success in the final . Dimitrov qualified for the season-end tournament, the ATP Finals , for the first time , and went straight to the final, defeating David Goffin 5: 7, 6: 4, 3: 6. This season Dimitrov was able to win a total of four tournaments and finished them in third place in the world rankings.

After a disappointing year for him in 2018 and the round of 16 at the Australian Open 2019 , he then struggled with shoulder problems and had to cancel several tournaments. At the French Open he was eliminated in the third round, at Wimbledon it was over after the first game. At the US Open 2019 he was unsettled in the semifinals after a five-set win against Roger Federer . In May he parted ways with his coach Vallverdú. Radek Štěpánek became the new coach .

Play style

Dimitrov plays with his right hand and a one-handed backhand. He describes the backhand longline as his favorite shot, his favorite surfaces are grass and hard courts. Dimitrov is often compared to Roger Federer because of his style of play and his forehand and serve movements .

Private life

In 2012, rumors surfaced about a relationship between Grigor Dimitrov and Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova . Both confirmed this at the Mutua Madrid Open 2013 , where Dimitrov defeated a number one for the first time in his career with Novak Đoković . In July 2015, the two separated again. The son of a tennis coach and a sports teacher lives in Monaco today .

successes

Legend (number of victories) Grand Slam ATP Finals (1) ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (1) ATP World Tour 500 (1) ATP World Tour 250 (5) ATP Challenger Tour (5)

Title after covering Hard Court (6) Sand (1) Grass (1)

singles

Tournament victories

ATP World Tour

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	20th October 2013	Stockholm	Hard court (i)	David Ferrer	2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
2.	March 2, 2014	Acapulco	Hard court	Kevin Anderson	7: 6 1 , 3: 6, 7: 6 5
3.	April 27, 2014	Bucharest	sand	Lukáš Rosol	7: 6 2 , 6: 1
4th	15th June 2014	Queen's Club	race	Feliciano López	6: 7 8 , 7: 6 1 , 7: 6 6
5.	January 8, 2017	Brisbane	Hard court	Kei Nishikori	6: 2, 2: 6, 6: 3
6th	February 12, 2017	Sofia	Hard court (i)	David Goffin	7: 5, 6: 4
7th	20th August 2017	Cincinnati	Hard court	Nick Kyrgios	6: 3, 7: 5
8th.	19th November 2017	London	Hard court (i)	David Goffin	7: 5, 4: 6, 6: 3

ATP Challenger Tour

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	August 29, 2010	Geneva	sand	Pablo Andújar	6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 4
2.	September 18, 2010	Bangkok	Hard court	Konstantin Kravchuk	6: 1, 6: 4
3.	September 25, 2010	Bangkok	Hard court	Alexander Kudryavtsev	6: 4, 6: 1
4th	March 6, 2011	Cherbourg-Octeville	Hard court (i)	Nicolas Mahut	6: 2, 7: 6 4

Final participation

No.	date	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	January 6, 2013	Brisbane	Hard court	Andy Murray	6: 7 0 , 4: 6
2.	19th October 2014	Stockholm (1)	Hard court (i)	Tomáš Berdych	7: 5, 4: 6, 4: 6
3.	January 16, 2016	Sydney	Hard court	Viktor Troicki	6: 2, 1: 6, 6: 7 7
4th	May 1, 2016	Istanbul	sand	Diego Schwartzman	7: 6 5 , 6: 7 4 , 0: 6
5.	October 9, 2016	Beijing	Hard court	Andy Murray	4: 6, 6: 7 2
6th	October 22, 2017	Stockholm (2)	Hard court (i)	Juan Martín del Potro	4: 6, 2: 6
7th	February 18, 2018	Rotterdam	Hard court (i)	Roger Federer	2: 6, 2: 6

Double

Tournament victories

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	September 27, 2009	Trnava	sand	Teimuras Gabashvili	Jan Minář Lukáš Rosol	6: 4, 2: 6, [10: 8]

Final participation

No.	date	competition	Topping	partner	Final opponent	Result
1.	June 19, 2011	Eastbourne	race	Andreas Seppi	Jonathan Erlich Andy Ram	3: 6, 3: 6

Web links

Commons : Grigor Dimitrov  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• ATP profile Grigor Dimitrov (English)
• ITF profile Grigor Dimitrov (English)
• Davis Cup stats by Grigor Dimitrov (English)
• Official Homepage (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Peter McNamara is the New Coach of Grigor Dimitrov. In: grigor-dimitrov.com. June 7, 2010, archived from the original on July 11, 2011 ; accessed on January 18, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Bulgaria's Top Male Tennis Player Wins Geneva Challenger Cup. In: novinite.com. August 29, 2010, accessed July 1, 2016 . 
3. ↑ Referee attack: Talent threatens suspension. In: sport1.de. December 2, 2010, accessed January 18, 2017 . 
4. ↑ The shoulder! Grigor Dimitrov can also cancel Indian Wells. In: tennisnet.com , accessed on September 4, 2019.
5. ^ The Guardian: Grigor Dimitrov is the new Roger Federer - Sport - The Sofia Echo. In: sofiaecho.com. Retrieved July 1, 2016 . 
6. ^ Marianne Bevis: Grigor Dimitrov: The Young Roger Federer in Waiting. In: bleacherreport.com. June 10, 2009, accessed July 1, 2016 . 
7. ↑ Dimitrov about Sharapova: "I just love this woman!" In: tennisnet.com. March 15, 2014, archived from the original on March 27, 2014 ; accessed on July 1, 2016 .