Dimitrov wins first title since 2017: “My work has paid off”

The Bulgarian won his ninth career title, beating Holger Rune for the crown in Brisbane

Grigor Dimitrov in Paris (Federico Pestellini/Panoramic)

January 8, 2024

You only had to see Grigor Dimitrov’s face at match point to understand all the emotion he felt after winning the Brisbane tournament on Sunday. The Bulgarian had been waiting seven years for this moment, an eternity for a player of his calibre, winner of the ATP Finals in 2017, Grand Slam semi-finalist and former world No 3.

This week in Australia, he lost just one set, in the first round to Andy Murray, before flying through his other matches, including the final against world No 8 Holger Rune, 7-6 (5), 6-4. The Bulgarian was very satisfied at the end of the match, as he confided in the press conference, with a broad smile on his face.

Dimitrov with the means to succeed

Since the autumn of 2023, Dimitrov has had one good result after another. He has reached at least the quarter-finals in five of his last six tournaments, including two semi-finals and two finals. Despite an unfortunate loss at the Rolex Paris Masters against Novak Djokovic at the end of last year, the 32-year-old confirmed his status at the start of the 2024 season with a ninth ATP title.

Asked in the press conference about a possible trigger or what he could have changed in 2023 to achieve great results, he simply replied that he left nothing to chance in his professional life, to give himself the means to achieve his ends.

“I’m very focused on my side of the net. I’m focusing on what I do on daily basis, how I practice, how I sleep, how I eat, what I do, what kind of work I do in the gym, what are we working with the team. There’s so many variable things I do on a daily basis that I don’t think – I know it sounds weird – but I don’t think about I’m playing really well, no. It’s more how am I going to compose a point, what am I going to do during a match, what am I going to do in a clutch moment, how am I going to go after the ball. For me, that’s the fun part right now.

“Of course, I think if you do all these things in the right and correct way, things are happening and you win. Yeah, there’s one week till Melbourne. Of course, everybody is going to be out there. Everybody is going to fight and hustle. It’s best-of-five sets. It’s a very different tournament.

“All I need to do is keep up that line, keep on doing what I’ve been doing, get some practices outdoors a little bit. We play with the roof. It changes the conditions a little bit. There’s so many other things you need to adapt now, small things. That’s all I’m going to focus on.”