11/22/2017
For so long, it seemed Grigor Dimitrov never got his substantial tool box organized. He lacked the commitment of an elite player, and unless he was on a hot streak, riding his ball-striking talent, he was vulnerable, volatile and prone to frustration. But the 26-year-old Bulgarian with the stylish game is catching up with the hype that has trailed him since his teenage years, when he was dubbed “Baby Fed.” On Sunday in London, he won the ATP World Tour Finals, the biggest title of his career, by outdueling David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a tense, 2½-hour match. It was an emotional, enervating triumph that left Dimitrov somewhat speechless. Grigor Dimitrov, who won four titles this season, will rise to a career-high No. 3 in the rankings. “I’m lost for words a little bit, I’m not gonna lie,” Dimitrov said when he was presented with the trophy. “I’m usually pretty good at this.” Now the question is as simple as the answer is complicated: Can he make up for lost time? First, we have to look at the competition atop the game. Swiss icon Roger Federer is approaching 37, and Rafael Nadal, although the top-ranked player this season, is once again dealing with knee troubles. The picture at the top of the men’s game seems more clouded than it has been in a decade, especially with the string of injuries that hit the tour this season. Four of the top five players from a year ago never lasted long enough this season to make it to the top in London. So it seems Dimitrov is positioned to wedge himself more deeply into the Grand Slam conversation than ever before. The intriguing detail is that Dimitrov, who will finish the year ranked No. 3 behind Nadal and Federer, has threatened to be a force at the top before only to slide back. He was the world’s top-ranked junior a decade ago, sweeping the boys’ titles at Wimbledon and the US Open. He was a Wimbledon semifinalist in 2014, the year he hit a then-career-high ranking of No. 8 at age 22. But he stumbled, falling as far No. 40 by the summer of 2016. “Reaching No. 8 in the world at 22 was a difficult learning experience for him,” Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov’s coach since August 2016, said at the Miami Open last February. “But it was good for him. Our main priority now is to keep things simple.”
