Last year’s finalist Grigor Dimitrov may have looked at home on the Brisbane courts during his first-round win on Monday night, but working as a lifesaver on Southbank’s Streets Beach this morning he admitted he was a bit of a fish out of water.
“My swimming skills are not the best I would say, but enough not to drown myself so it’s kind of funny,” Dimitrov said.
Someone forgot to mention to Grigor that tennis shoes aren’t the best beach accessory, but it didn’t stop the perfectionist Bulgarian getting competitive as he raced the local lifeguard to a thong in the sand, a career in lifesaving though is out of the question.
“Of course trying to enjoy the beach a little bit today then get on the practice court a little bit and get ready for tomorrow.”
At 22-years-old the ever-favoured young star has risen through the game with a stark lack of turbulence, finishing 2012 inside the world’s top 50 before reaching his first ATP World Tour final here in 2013.
From there it was full speed ahead for Dimitrov, recording a win over world No.1 Novak Djokovic in Madrid before beating previously troublesome foe David Ferrer to clinch his first career title in Stockholm – the first Bulgarian to do so in the Open Era.
Currently world No.23 on the eve of a new year – one spot off his career-high ranking –at the tournament that launched his success, 2014 is tipped to be the one that solidifies Dimitrov’s position at the top of the game, but the promising up-and-comer tag can be a difficult one to shake on the professional tour.
“Obviously the game has changed a little bit throughout all the years. You see now the older guys who are really stepping in to play and obviously they’ve experienced a little more,” he said.
“It’s not easy; it’s not easy in general to come out and compete every week. The game has become so physical nowadays that you just want to be consistent and of course injury-free and have that patience to go to the next level.”
But one thing Dimitrov doesn’t lack is experience, immersed in the game as a promising junior since age 5 with dad Dimitar a tennis coach and mum Maria a sports teacher. Even Maria Sharapova admitted earlier this week that Dimitrov could probably teach her a few things.
For Dimitrov, there is one simple way to lose the label: perform at Grand Slams. And with the Australian Open just around the corner, Melbourne has become his primary target.
“One of the main things at the moment is to get going in the Grand Slams. I think that’s one of the biggest challenges for me and my team and I think that’s the main thing at the moment,” he said.
“There’s Wimbledon that I really want to get into that second week, but why not here? Why not in Melbourne? Hopefully it’s going to turn out to be a good one for me.”
Another good week in Brisbane is the place to start for the dynamic Bulgarian, who faces a tough second-round challenge tomorrow with former world No.9 Marin Cilic in what is the first encounter between the pair.
For the man labelled “Baby Federer” for his remarkable style similarities, a match-up with the man himself is the final both Dimitrov and Brisbane fans are hoping for.