High expectations can be a blessing and a curse. And for the young tennis star Grigor Dimitrov to meet the expectations generated by its enormous potential, not proved easy.
In each indicator, 2014 was the year of the breakthrough of the Bulgarians in men's tennis. He finished with 50 wins against 18 losses, recorded his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, then first semifinal and reached a record eighth place in the rankings.
With the help of his coach Roger Rasheed, Dimitrov progressed noticeably from the conditioning program, which brought him titles in Acapulco, Queens and Bucharest. An impressive fact is that won three trophies on three different surfaces and makes it a polyvalent player, which can be a strong showing any court in the world.
Although his season ended with a loss in the fourth round of the US Open and early dropout in Shanghai and Paris, Dimitrov has proved to be a dangerous rival. Peter Bodo, tennis specialist of ESPN, said: "For a young player it is very important to learn to win and in the days that his game does not run when his backhand crashing the net or falls softly on the wrong side of the line. This quality is still in doubt Grigor, amazing talent, whose skills and brilliance in beating can turn it into a huge star. "
This year, however, Dimitrov learned how difficult it is even for the class of players to achieve consistency in performance. Last week in Rotterdam, he lost 2-6 6-7 (8) by Gilles Muller in the second round, and barely survived the very start, save where two machpoynta against Paul-Henri Mathieu.
But its worst defeat was undoubtedly the Australian Open Andy Murray. The pledge was a place in the quarterfinals against local star Nick Kiryos and Dimitrov had enough chances to take control of the match, but missed them and lost 4-6 7-6 (5) 3-6 5-7. Grigor squandered advance 3-0 in the opening set and failed to build after winning the second. Even the most brilliant plays in his fourth not enough to score in the fifth game of the final set, although Bulgarians led 5-2 games.
Disappointment prevailed at the end of the match, which lasted three hours and a half, and enraged Dimitrov broke his racket on the court. After the match talent said: "I will not hide that I am very disappointed. I am mad. I am glad that I showed such a level that against me had to come from the class of player Andy to beat me. But this result is not I wanted. "
Dimitrov was not bothered by the loss of Murray, because I think that played a terrible game. Rather, it was a step away from the decisive fifth set. But in the important moments crack. If there is a match that can most accurately describe the problems of Grigor now, it is his defeat by Roger Federer in Brisbane. After the deal with Jeremy Chardy and Martin Klizhan the road Bulgarians stood 17-time Grand Slam champion. It looked like the opportunity for Dimitrov to build self-esteem at an early stage of the season, but instead it smashed Roger.
Ceaseless aggression Federer and His neat walking Grigor in court. Maestro is doing great and Retur and broke his younger rival for 4 times in the game and 54-minute lesson ended with another forehand error by Dimitrov. It is this moment exposed structural gap between the two players, despite the similarity in their styles.
Grigor long time compared with Roger because of the serious similarities in the implementation of the serve, forehand and backhand with one hand. Bulgarians even called "Baby Fed" and also hired former strength and conditioning specialist from Headquarters Maestro. But although Dimitrov trying to distance itself from the aura of the great Swiss and izgredi its identity, it can still learn from his idol. There are three pillars on which Dimitrov really need to focus - service, tactical variability and persistence in attacking style. These components are the foundation of success Federer and Grigor difficulties in each of them.
Bulgarians are not insistent enough aggression on the court, but what most prevents is currently uncertainty of service. He is 28th among all players in the ATP tour by points of first serve of the season, 38th in percentage of first serve placed at 42nd in service of games won, 54th in saved break points and 62nd by points on second serve. Ouch! These numbers do not satisfy the ambitions of talent.
Can not win easy points on serve, especially in the important situations is what prevents Dimitrov to compete with the biggest. And it differs seriously from Federer, who is able to serve a unique voltage, while Grigor still does not have a similar concentration. Milos Raonic is another of the younger generation of players, which is on the verge of serious success in the Grand Slam. Canadian no traffic court or the variety of strokes, which can count Dimitrov, but is relentless line of initial shock. Power in the serve of Raonich offsets shortcomings in his game and give him a chance to develop and to win. Grigor needs to turn his serve in the weapon to the next step.
To strengthen the initial shock and to make improvements in your game will take time. And a lot of trial and error on the court. The fact that should encourage Dimitrov is that despite gaps in his arsenal and a disappointing start to the season, he still gravitates to Top 10. He is currently on 11th position and needs good winning streak Masters in Indian Wells and Miami. Previously, the Bulgarians forthcoming title defense in Acapulco, but the injury to Marin Cilic may not have to wait long to climb up the rankings.
Dimitrov really needs a strong spring. In 2014 he was out in the third round in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Madrid. Although raised a little speed semifinals in Rome, Gregory was not in his best form at Roland Garros and stopped in the first round.
If the Bulgarians managed to improve these results in the next few weeks, he will not only rise in the rankings, but will gain more confidence for battles with the Big Four, against which currently has only three forged the success ot 21 matches. Dimitrov is high time to make efforts in victories against Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray, otherwise risking never to overcome this psychological barrier.
To be the best, you must beat the best. In 2015 and Gregory learned this lesson the hard way, and maybe he had to swallow more disappointments before really be ready to climb the peaks in men's tennis.
Source: Bleacher Report
by TennisKafe.
