Grigor Dimitrov on Sunday set his sights on winning his first Grand Slam after his dramatic victory at the ATP Finals in London gave him the biggest title of his career.
The Bulgarian sixth seed held his nerve to beat Belgium’s David Goffin 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 in a gripping contest at the O2 Arena, finally sealing the match with his fifth championship point.
The victory takes the 26-year-old to the dizzy heights of third in the rankings behind only Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer as he begins to deliver on his rich promise.
Photo: AFP
Nicknamed “Baby Fed” early in his career for the similarity of style in his game to the Swiss star, Dimitrov has struggled to live up to the comparison and was as low as 40th in the world in the middle of last year, but he has bounced back strongly to enjoy the best season of his career this year, winning four titles, including his first Masters title in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dimitrov has never been beyond the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, reaching the last four at Wimbledon in 2014 and repeating the feat in Australia earlier this year.
“I’m still trying to think about what I just did,” the Bulgarian said after his victory. “I think now definitely we [are] going to sit down with the team and reassess the whole year, see what we’ve done good, what we can improve. Of course, one of my main goals is to win a tournament, you know, a Grand Slam tournament. This has always been, again, a dream of mine. Now, slowly, I think this thing is getting there.”
“I think I’ve had good results in the past, but now, as I said, I need to be even more consistent on those kind of events and in the same time raise up my level on occasions like this,” he said. “Obviously, this is a great, unbelievable achievement for me, yes, but, yeah, I just still have a lot to give.”
The ATP Finals have had an unusual flavor this year, missing Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, while world No. 1 Nadal was forced to pull out injured after his opening round-robin match.
In a huge shock, Roger Federer was ousted in the semi-finals by Goffin, but Dimitrov said it was too soon to proclaim a new era and write the obituaries of the “Big Four,” who have dominated tennis over the past decade and more.
“Next year, I think is going to be obviously pretty interesting, especially the beginning of it,” he said. “There’s still quite a few names that are going to come back and play. That’s just obvious. You should never count them out.”
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
RSS