Bulgarian narrowly falls to Nadal in Australian Open classic
Despite a painful five-set loss to Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open semi-finals on Friday, Grigor Dimitrov is choosing to focus on the positives from his two weeks in Melbourne.
The No. 15 seed opened the year by reaching his second Grand Slam semi-final and first since Wimbledon 2014. Although he was mere games away from becoming the first Bulgarian man or woman to reach a Grand Slam final, Dimitrov said he was pleased he could sustain his top level of play against the Spaniard for more than four hours.
“It's never easy to lose a match like that. I'm happy, though, with a lot of things. I'm going to stay positive and keep my head up high,” said Dimitrov. “Rafa deserves all the credit right now since he's such a fighter, such a competitor. It was an honour for me to play a match like that against him. It also shows me that I'm on the right path.”
After a dip in form that saw him at No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings this past July, Dimitrov turned his form around in the second half of 2016 and has truly come alive this season. He won his first 10 matches this year, starting off 2017 by scoring three consecutive Top 10 wins (Dominic Thiem, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori) to take the title in Brisbane. Dimitrov continued to take out higher-ranked opponents in Melbourne by scoring a convincing straight-sets victory over No. 11 seed David Goffin in the quarter-finals.
Now that he’s firmly back inside the Top 15, Dimitrov is determined not to get too down over his loss to Nadal and instead look to the long season ahead.
“The one thing that's going to be hard for me the first three or four days is to really absorb that, like, ‘Wow, I was so close,’” he admitted. “At the same time, I'm appreciating my run so far. It's been a great start to the year. It doesn't happen often that you come off from [winning] 10 matches in a row.
“I just don't want to put my head down for a second right now, especially when I'm feeling good,” he added. “I'm competing great. Physically, I'm getting there. Despite the disappointment, that's going to feed me for the upcoming events.”
It’s also clear that Dimitrov appreciates good tennis as much as any other fan of the sport. The Bulgarian said he would make it a point to watch Federer and Nadal add another layer to their historic rivalry in the championship match.
“Of course, everyone is going to see that final now, including me. I'm going to watch it for sure. It's super amazing and great for the sport,” said Dimitrov. “I just know that two of the greatest players of tennis are going to square off on Sunday and it's going to be an amazing match.”
Dimitrov's next ATP World Tour event will be in two weeks on home soil in Sofia.
