Dimitrov: "I always knew it, but now I feel that tennis is not everything"
Monday 10 August 2020 17:59, UK
Grigor Dimitrov says it has been an eye-opening experience having spent time out of the game in lockdown but he now wants to return to tennis with a renewed focus.
Dimitrov has won eight ATP titles in his career and reached a career-high ranking of No 3 in 2017, but after bursting onto the scene by winning consecutive Grand Slam boys' singles titles at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 US Open, he has not been able to live up to the hype.
The Bulgarian reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2014, Australian Open in 2017, and at last year's US Open.
Despite claiming the biggest title of his career by winning the ATP Finals in London three years ago, the 29-year-old has not been able to reach a maiden Grand Slam final.
I'm still in the game, but it's good to take yourself out because I've been playing tennis since I was three and I've been pro for 11 years now, so you need to understand that.
"I feel like I've had to deal with a lot of adversity over the past 18 months on so many different levels and all I'm going to try and do right now is focus one week at a time, which I have not done in a really long time," he said.
"The reason I'm saying that is the injuries - my first injury last year (shoulder) and then I dropped down pretty bad to around 84 or 85 in the world so I had to fight my way back, and then the pandemic happened. So many things in a sequence, back-to-back, but right now I'm just trying to focus on the right things to do.
"To be completely honest with you, it's not bad to take yourself out of tennis for a bit and I think that's what has been happening overall this year. I'm still in the game, but it's good to take yourself out because I've been playing tennis since I was three and I've been pro for 11 years now, so you need to understand that.
"I always knew it, but now I feel that tennis is not everything (in life) and it's good that you start understanding the complexity of the sport on a different level earlier rather than later when you're about to stop playing the game."
Dimitrov, who opened up about contracting coronavirus during the Adria Tour, also says he still has "a lot left to give" in the game and appears determined to achieve much more in the future.
He said: "I'm using this time to take a step back and draw a line. 'What is important to you in tennis?' or 'what is important outside if the court?' I want to start bringing those things in compartments which makes things a little bit easier to understand what the next step is going to be and what goals you have. This is where I'm at right now.
"I think it's a bit far for me to think about 2021 just because there's a few things I'm working on and hoping to fix so I'm comfortable and so I can say, 'I'm back at it with absolute full force and I'm healthy. Everything is set, so let's go again'."
Yes, we're excited, we're travelling and this and that, but one day all of that is going to be completely gone. Tennis is just a period of our lives, so I like to have that approach.
The Bulgarian, who also claimed the Cincinnati Masters title in 2017, has taken a philosophical approach to life in lockdown and says players should "cherish" the important things in life rather than think about tennis all the time.
Dimitrov continued: "Now it's just an uncertain time and a weird time because you wake up and you say 'what am I going to do today?' I might go and practice, but then what? It's a very strange feeling, like a funny anxiety. I've been trying to get up and be as normal as possible and not rush for things, go for a coffee, spend time with family and friends. The important stuff because you realise everything is so fast.
"We need to cherish those little moments. I've missed them for so many years, but now, that's my priority. Get my life that I'm going to have, because tennis is not forever and it's not everything. Tennis is just a period of my life so it's good to understand the outside of tennis a little bit more than what we are usually used to.
"Yes, we're excited, we're travelling and this and that, but one day all of that is going to be completely gone. Tennis is just a period of our lives, so I like to take that approach."
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