Grigor Dimitrov – the shadow giant
View(s):The tennis world will never forget the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov, memorable appealing personality on and off the court with unique tennis history of his own. A tall warrior by birth and appeal of a Greek statue. To my memory, he was never short in shot-selection. His tennis, regardless, he won or lost was and is extremely appealing to watch. Without a doubt, perfect model for player development.
His ranking has swung between being world’s number three to well past 200 in the last 10 years, but always present. Last week he took Alcaraz, the budding prince in waiting to be number one, out of the Miami 2024 draw. He has done this to all great names of his era.
Often Dimitrov overshadowed his tennis with his lifestyle and flair for prominence. He is in the league of New Yorkers John McEnroe, Vital Gerulaitis and Arthur Ash in this department. In the sense of sports personalities, no others have left a mark as strong and memorable as Dimitrov in the new millennium. At 32, he is far from over and last week’s win over world’s No.1 Carlos Alcaraz in Miami Open 2024 in the quarter-final is not a fluke.
25 million career prize money
This kind of prize money does not come unless you are a talented and natural player. All the good players have sparing partners. Dimitrov spars even today with Top 10 ranked players regularly. He has indicated that it to be a good method of training for tennis. It exercises muscle memory for current speed, reaction, tactics and exploring new vistas of playing tennis. After all every technical innovation that come to being in every sport, demands a tactical adaptation.
From his junior days, Dimitrov carried an aura of appeal. His carrier mingled with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and has registered wins against all three of them. Now against Alcaraz too. Dimitrov has the longest spell of 52 Grand Slam appearances and 20 Davis Cup appearances. Vallverdu and Del Gardo, his coaches from 2016, are still with him.
Advertising appeal of Dimitrov
Dimitrov’s lifestyle is an appeal in the advertising world. Dimitrov was never short of it. His name is mingled Maria Sharapova, Serena Williams and many of the catwalk divas. To the advertising world, he is hot stuff. One should expect a good deal of appealing tennis from him in the coming European season.
European season of 2024
April and May are the red clay season. It takes off from Turkey in April goes to North Africa to the championships of European cities Monte Carlo, Italy and Barcelona. Followed by events in Madrid and Paris, the Roland-Garros for the French national title, also a Grand Slam event.
ATP
Up to date this year, ATP’s new-gen protégés have established a firm grip of domination. Italians are the most prominent here. Jannik Sinner, Lorenzo Musetti, Lorenzo Sunego are effective and impressive on clay courts. Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz is add-on into this. The field in the ATP tennis is strong and interesting. The Frenchman Gael Monfils, Giles Simon and veteran Richard Gasquet are bound to pull out surprise wins. We cannot discount the Russians.
WTA
The present WTA players are attraction in tennis. The field is open and as to who will win, the next big event is unpredictable. Every player in the Top 5 of the WTA ranking has won and lost within the group. This is to be able play more events and hold out a better average than to work in the top gear. Top gear is injury zone in women’s tennis.
The top players of the WTA ranking are Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur, Maria Sakkari and Qinwen Zheng. All of them play powerhouse tennis. When it comes to versatility Swiatek, Rybakina, Sakkari and Sabalenka can outwit, outlast any from the Top 10.
Money in tennis – Davis Cup issue
It is noticeable the money in tennis has dwindled. Wars and pandemics do not boost sports. To my memory 2024 must be the first year where the famous Davis Cup, now 124 years in existence, is been conducted without a sponsor. ITF London is conducting full array of Davis Cup ladder groups in the most austere manner.
Davis Cup was always a five-set match event. Now it is three. Davis Cup had a court-set-up board as far as I could remember. This year boards were there but without any sponsorship.
Davis Cup is a inter-nation team championship. ATP and WTA have their own version more effective than Davis Cup. ATP and WTA is elite players’ platform. Attractive and more effective, in indicating the best tennis nation, winds of change.
–George Paldano, European and Asian competition player; Coach German Tennis Federation; National coach Brunei and Sri Lanka; Davis Cup, Federation Cup coach, coached ATP, WTA and ITF ranked players in Europe and Asia; WhatsApp +94775448880–