Grigor Dimitrov was brought back to one of the most memorable victories of his career ahead of the start of the Madrid Masters this Wednesday.
11 years ago, the best Bulgarian tennis player managed to achieve his only victory against the most successful of all time, Novak Djokovic – then and now number 1 in the world.
Then, in clash #3 of their rivalry, Grisho triumphed in Madrid with 7:6(6), 6:7(8), 6:3 in the 1/16-finals phase. ATP asked our tennis player about that great match and about his first participation in the tournament in general.
“It was quite a few years ago and I remember being in a rather dodgy hotel. I was supposed to play Djokovic and I was like, ‘okay, I’ve got to make some money and change hotels.’
It was a very good experience. It was full of people and I was in very good shape and very pumped. The match was amazing. There were many dives on both sides. In addition, there were also dropped balls which were very interesting.
I wasn’t expecting anything in particular. I love these matches and raising my level.
I wanted to check it out in one of my first matches with Djokovic. I wanted to show my best and see what the outcome would be. He turned out pretty decent.
Perhaps part of my success in the past months is precisely because I have no expectations. I’m not even putting them down, I just don’t have any. I just have to be the best version of myself on a physical and mental level. It all boils down to this and there are no other options.
The feeling of the successes I have been achieving lately is wonderful. I enjoy being able to win against extremely good players.
Now I don’t have enough time to enjoy the successes because the next challenge is coming. I try to use these little moments when I am away from the sport. I continue to work hard and look for success.”
For the Bulgarian, his match of the second round in the competition against the German Janik Hanfmann or the Czech Jakub Mensik is coming up. You will be able to watch it live on MAX Sport 1 HD, where the Masters race will be broadcast every day until the final on May 5th.
And in the days before the start of his participation, Grigor sweated hard – in his preparation he even played a training match with Sebastian Korda (in the video above), who after the end asked Grisho for a photo together.
