Grigor Dimitrov finished the best season of his career with the biggest title of his life.
The Bulgarian won his fifth consecutive match at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday, beating David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 to win the season-ending championships during his debut.
It's the fourth title of Dimitrov's 2017 – a career-high – and the eighth of his career. The right-hander was already going to climb to a career-high No. 3 in the year-end Emirates ATP Rankings. But now he'll do so emphatically and with a heap of momentum heading into his 2018 season.
“This makes me even more locked in, more excited about my work, and for what's to come,” Dimitrov said. “It's a great platform for me to build on for next year. It's going to be amazing in the off-season. I know what I have to do in order to do good.”
He became the first debutant to win the Nitto ATP Finals title since Spaniard Alex Corretja in 1998 (d. Moya). The Bulgarian, who finished 5-0 this week in London, will earn $2,549,000 in prize money and 1,500 Emirates ATP Rankings points.
This was the year so many pundits and fans had wanted for Dimitrov – a quartet of titles, a Top 5 finish. It all seems to have changed midway through last season, when he paired with coach Daniel Vallverdu. The Bulgarian was No. 40 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, his lowest position in more than three years, and he had lost both of his ATP World Tour finals.
But Vallverdu, who had worked with Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, brought a simplified game plan for Dimitrov, and as the two grew closer, the weekend finishes – and the titles – followed.
“With the right set of mind, with the right people, with the right support, things happen. For me, that period really helped me a lot. I think I needed that,” Dimitrov said. “In that particular moment, I really realised what I really need to work on, who are the real people around me, who really counts on me, who matters to me. There's so many lessons that I took out of that period.”
The 26-year-old Dimitrov was emotional in his celebration. He lied face first on the court, sobbing. He rose to hug Goffin before hopping to his box and sharing long embraces with his parents, Vallerdu and others.
