Grigor Dimitrov: The Former ‘Baby Federer’ Faces Carlos Alcaraz in Shanghai ATP Master 1000

Tennis player Grigor Dimitrov, during the Shanghai ATP Master 1000 (Reuters / Aly Song)

When Carlos Alcaraz takes to the court in Shanghai this Wednesday, the rival he will face will not be Roger Federer, no matter how much it may seem like it. Who will be there will be Grigor Dimitrov, the Bulgarian tennis player who was once nicknamed baby Federer. And the fact is that, both the bearing and the hitting technique, such as the forehand and the backhand, and even the clothing, were largely reminiscent of those of the Swiss. At that time, he aimed to become one of the big three along with Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer. An idea that gained even more strength when he won the Masters Cup in 2017, the most important title of his career. And that same year he reached the ATP podium, only behind the Spaniard and the Swiss, and became the best Bulgarian tennis player in history.

Both Carlos Alcaraz, who will try to win the match to continue adding points that bring him closer to that long-awaited ATP number one, and Grigor Dimitrov who is currently in a good moment, as he himself assured, with a consistent season although “always I want more, I expect more from myself in any tournament”; They will seek to impose themselves on the other. That is to say, both arrive at the Shanghai track with one idea in mind: to win. The Spaniard trying to prevail with his drive with which he will probably try to hammer Dimitrov’s one-handed backhand, and precisely that backhand will be the one that the Bulgarian tries to use to get an advantageous position.

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He was born in Haskovo, Bulgaria, in 1991. From a very young age it was clear to him that tennis was his place and at just three years old he could already be seen running with a racket in his hands. Two years later, he began playing daily and his talent for the sport quickly emerged. His parents then decided to enroll in the Sánchez-Casal academy. In 2008, he moved to Paris to begin training at Patrick Mouratoglou’s academy, the training center for great talents in the tennis world, which would quickly bear fruit.

In 2008 he won two major titles in his category: Wimbledon and US Open. After that last tournament, he also became number one in the world as a junior. A great start to his career. The Bulgarian arrived pushing hard and became a young promise on the circuit. His peculiar style and elegance, his serve stroke and one-handed backhand combined with his winning, quickly sparked comparisons. Many began to call themselves baby Federer: “I think I have been compared to him too soon. At first I liked it, it was fun, but then it got boring. The comparison has crushed me a little and people only talked about that. In some ways it has hurt me and I am happy that all of that is over. It was a far from ideal situation for an emerging junior like me who just wanted to demonstrate his value as a person and as a tennis player. “Now I can laugh about it and look to the future,” Dimitrov said.

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However, her career did not stop growing and as she won victory after victory, on the other hand, she became closer and closer to the Russian tennis player, María Sharapova. The relationship lasted three years, between 2013 and 2016, he was the one who took her first step in trying to get to know her, while she was reluctant to formalize the relationship. She had already shown all her potential, while he began to stand out at the beginning of their relationship. It was an intense romance, between a tournament and training, that finally ended because they didn’t meet at the right time.

In 2014, he improved his positions in the ATP, bringing him closer and closer to that long-awaited top 10 that he almost achieved that same season, when he finished in 11th place in the ranking. However, the next two years were a roller coaster for the Bulgarian. He plays irregularly and loses too early in tournaments. They were complicated years, but then came 2017, where he recorded his best season: 48 wins and 19 losses, and four titles, all of them on hard courts. And, then, the Masters tournament arrived, where he displayed the best version of himself, which helped him win the cup, the most important of his career. This feat lifted him to third place in the ranking, on par with the best tennis players in the world.

But since then he has not won another title, which has led him to fall in the qualifiers to 19th place, although in this last year he has been recovering his sensations. In this context, he reaches the round of 16 in Shanghai to face Carlos Alcaraz, who currently holds the second position in the ranking, and who considers his rival a “very talented” tennis player. To which he adds: “I will try to stay focused all the time and not let him dominate the game. He feels comfortable if the game goes his way, so I will try to put pressure on him.”

2023-10-11 04:09:00
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