Dimitrov: “Whatever comes my way right now, it’s a pure bonus”

In the midst of his second youth, 33-year-old Bulgarian is enjoying one of his best ever seasons

Antoine Couvercelle / Panoramic

October 7, 2024

He’s a centurion, but still in great shape. After defeating Zizou Bergs – a match that began on Saturday and ended on Monday due to rain – in his first match in Shanghai, Grigor Dimitrov was told he had been playing in his 100th ATP Masters 1000 event.

“No way? That’s fun. 100. Wow, that’s a lot. That’s a lot of Masters. No, I think, listen, I think whatever comes my way right now it’s a pure bonus. I think for me one of the biggest things I think throughout the years that I feel like I have learned a lot is the appreciation of what we do.”

The Bulgarian, who turned 33 in May, has had a long career on the circuit. He played his first ATP match in 2008. It was as a wildcard on the grass of s’Hertogenbosch, where he lost to Igor Andreev at 17, just a few weeks before winning the junior title at Wimbledon against Henri Kontinen, the future world No 1 in doubles. It was one of his two Grand Slam titles in this category, along with the US Open that same year.

Dimitrov: A young 33-year-old

“I think the longevity, when you look back and you think about it, let’s say 16 years I’ve been on tour, it kind of hits you in a very funny way, like in a good way. And then all of a sudden you go like too far in the past, so it’s like I’m trying not to really overthink about that, especially where I’m at right now. Because, yeah, let’s face it, I’m more on the other side than this side.”

That’s true. But given the performances of Stan Wawrinka – now the third oldest man in history to win a Masters 1000 match – and Gaël Monfils, aged 39 and 38 respectively, not to mention those of Novak Djokovic, 37, Dimitrov could still have a few good years ahead of him.

All the more so because, despite suffering Covid in 2020, losing three kilograms of muscle and requiring hospitalisation, he has been able to rebuild, stone by stone, a physical body that would make much younger rivals jealous.

To win a Grand Slam title: The last piece in the jigsaw

With, perhaps, in the back of his mind the ambition to earn himself an eternal place in the history of tennis by going for the Holy Grail. “Now (my goal) is to win a Grand Slam title,” the man with three semi-finals to his name – Wimbledon 2014, Australian Open 2017, US Open 2019 – told us in Major Talk at the end of 2021. “Once you’ve been that close to an ultimate goal, that’s always what’s going to haunt you afterwards.”

“I’d say it’s probably the last piece of the jigsaw for me,” he said. “Winning a Grand Slam would be a way of feeling legitimate. I’ve never wanted to see it that way, because it’s not the best for my self-esteem, but it’s also what keeps the flame burning inside me.”

A flame that has contributed to his rebirth. To the point, perhaps, of never having been so hot. After lighting up Brisbane to lift yet another trophy, the ninth of his career on the main tour, Dimitrov declared: “I think I’m a better player than I was in 2017.” That was the year of his numerical peak, marked by his Masters title followed by a world No 3 ranking.