Now on the same page, Dimitrov writing successful new chapter

Flashback to November 2017: Grigor Dimitrov strikes his trademark pose, hoisting aloft with his right arm the heavy, imposing Nitto ATP Finals trophy. Unfiltered joy spreads across his face.

He’s just emerged as the undefeated champion among the world’s best eight players to claim the biggest victory of his career, sealing a career-best No. 3 finish in the year-end Pepperstone ATP Rankings. If he wasn’t on top of the world, he was close to it.

"That's always been my trademark, lifting the trophy with one hand. I've done it since I was a kid,” Dimitrov told ATPTour.com at Melbourne Park this week.

Few predicted, not least Dimitrov, that it would be six long years until one of the game’s most gifted and stylish players would again strike his trophy pose. That moment came in the first week of this season in Brisbane, where, it should be noted, the 32-year-old also won the title to kick off his banner 2017 season, which included a run to the Australian Open semi-finals.

During his six-year title drought there were extended periods outside the Top 20 (he slipped to a low of 78 in 2019), mixed form and coaching changes, including a split with longtime coach Daniel Vallverdu.

Reflecting on the journey, Dimitrov said: “So much happened over the course of those years. I never thought that I wouldn't win a tournament ever again. I knew I would do it and I was knocking on the door so many times. I played nine semi-finals, made a couple of finals last year.

"I hoped that things would turn and shift for me. You just don't know when these things will come.”

Dimitrov’s fortunes turned last year after he hired Andy Murray’s former coach Jamie Delgado and reunited with Vallverdu. At the core of his revival was getting on board with the game plan devised by his coaching team, which Vallverdu outlined to ATPTour.com at Wimbledon last year.

“There's been an agreement within the whole team on what the game style should be to win or to lose... Over the past few years, maybe he wasn't as clear on what his game plan should be," Vallverdu said.

"He has two clear strengths, which are his serve and his forehand, so he should be utilising that as much as possible. Thirdly is the variety on the backhand side. Using his slice gives him the variety that you don’t see so much these days and can make guys feel uncomfortable."

As Dimitrov sees it, it was not about making wholesale changes to his game, but agreeing to a few tweaks and committing to them. 

"A lot of the shots and the game plan was there. We just needed to make sure that it was more sustainable over the course of the matches," Dimitrov said. "I've always tried to explore when I get out on the practice court. I'll hit the slice, but I'll also hit my [topspin] backhand. I like that a lot. It's more about in matches to pick and choose which time to play which shot.”

The team is now seeing the process pay off. Dimitrov finished last season by reaching the final of the BNP Paribas Masters (l. to Djokovic) and began this one by winning his first tournament of 2024 in Brisbane.

"It was my own quest to win another title, but it was a bigger win for the whole team because we knew what we had to do,” Dimitrov said. “Every single day we had to believe in the process. The main part was that I had to commit to it as well."

Coming into the Australian Open as World No. 13 – his highest mark since late 2018 – Dimitrov has every chance of returning to the Top 10 during the first half of the season. He is just 200 points away from No. 10 Alex de Minaur and has just 700 points to defend between now at the end of May.

Such is his confidence that making his Grand Slam breakthrough this season past the age of 30 does not seem fanciful.

"I've never thought about the window closing [to win a major],” he said. “While I have a racquet in my hand I like my chances in any tournament that I play.

“But I don't want to think too far ahead or that 2024 might be the year. I hope it's a year filled with good memories, good matches, good wins and some important losses, because they keep you honest and keep you improving.

"I don't like to compare years but I feel I am in a better place than 2017, physically and mentally. Maybe I won't win any more tournaments. One thing I do know for sure is that I am a better player, a better person since then. And in a way that's more important because if you keep things in the right place, good things will happen.”

Dimitrov, who reached the Australian Open semi-finals during his standout 2017 season, will play Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the first round at Melbourne Park.