Grigor Dimitrov has not had a good couple of years. The Bulgarian ranking dropped due to injury which kept him off the circuit.
Dimitrov Resurgence
32-year-old Grigor Dimitrov this season has seen his ranking jump back up. Solid results have certainly helped with this. The Bulgarian has not yet won a grand slam but has been close on three occasions. All of these were pre-injury so it’s been a struggle to get back into form.
After a third-round exit a the Australian Open, his best result was a semifinal in 2017, to Novak Djokovic the Bulgarian made the semifinal in Rotterdam and a quarterfinal in Marseille. His next few tournaments were not very good as Dimitrov only made the first or second rounds.
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A Final
Grigor Dimitrov started the build-up to the French Open by entering Geneva. As the fourth seed the Bulgarian would have been expected to go deep. Dimitrov made the final, his first since 2018. Sadly, the 32-year-old was unable to get across the line, losing out to Nicolas Jarry in straight sets. However, the Bulgarian showed some of his old style and finesse. Making a final for the first time in a long time would have boosted his confidence.
A fourth-round finish at the French Open was slightly disappointing, but still equaled the best result at Roland Garros for the Bulgarian. Then Dimitrov moved to the grass, not one of his better surfaces. However, Queens Club has generally been good for Dimitrov when he has played there. This year was no exception. The Bulgarian had to come through qualifying to make the main draw, but he made the quarter-final before running into Carlos Alcaraz who went on to take the title.
In the previous round, Dimitrov, who was unseeded, played Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine was the eighth seed but the Bulgarian beat him in straight sets. The Bulgarian went into Wimbledon ranked in the top 32. Dimitrov is the 21st seed. The third round saw Dimitrov against the 10th seed Frances Tiafoe. The American is not too shabby on grass, so a straight-sets win for the Bulgarian was seriously impressive.
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Next Steps
The fourth-round match against Holger Rune will be another step up in class for Dimitrov. The Dane has had to battle each round to make this stage but does have a fairly good grasscourt record. Especially this season. Rune has only lost one match on grass so far in 2023. At Queens in the semi-final so Rune will be the favourite for this match. Neither have played each other before, so it will be interesting to see which way this goes. If Dimitrov can continue what he has done so far here at Wimbledon a shock could be on the cards.
Grigor Dimitrov is resurging and it’s great to see. The Bulgarian has equaled his best finish at Wimbledon since 2017, although Dimitrov did make the semifinal in 2014. After defeating defending champion Andy Murray at the quarterfinal stage, the Bulgarian once again ran into Djokovic. Dimitrov pushed the Serbian and won the second set before the third and fourth sets went to tiebreaks.
Grigor Dimitrov is back, and although unlikely to win Wimbledon as Djokovic is still in the draw at the time of writing, the Bulgarian could at least equal the 2014 position. It would be good to see Dimitrov win a grand slam, but that is a very tough ask with the crop of players sitting in the top 10 at the moment.
Main Photo Credit: Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
