Dani Vallverdu never broke the top 700 and played his last competitive match in 2010. Nevertheless, the man from Venezuela has become one of the most well known names on the tour thanks to his coaching triumphs.
At the age of 30, Vallverdu has already enjoyed coaching stints with Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and now Grigor Dimitrov. It is an impressing record for a man who is younger than two of the world’s top 5 players (Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka).
Vallverdu also enjoyed a brief interaction with Juan Martin del Potro, who he guided during this year’s Wimbledon championship’s. At the time it was an exciting prospect for the two men, however, it proved to be too impractical for Vallverdu to become del Potro’s permanent coach.
“I just moved to Europe, I am living in Zurich now,” Vallverdu explained during an interview with ATPworldtour.com.
“He (Del Potro) spends so much time in Buenos Aires. If i’m honest, I would love to work with Juan Martin, but I would have to travel almost twice the amount than what I travelled before. It was more a personal and family decision.”
There was no dispute between the two men when their Wimbledon journey ended. Vallverdu even presented del Potro with a list of coaches and trainers that he recommended for him. It is unclear as to who they were and if the Argentine has contacted any of them.
Regardless of things not working out with del Potro, Vallverdu now finds himself teaming up with former Wimbledon semifinalist Dimitrov. He revealed that he was directly contacted by Dimitrov about working together.
Teaming up with the Bulgarian is by no means a light commitment for the 30-year-old, who has already said that he is in it for the long run.
“When I agreed to work with Grigor, I accepted that this as a long-term project.” He said.
“I believe a lot in this project and I am confident that with sustained effort, we can achieve a lot. I am willing to be in a long partnership.”
This year has been a tale of two halves for Dimitrov. Since May he has suffered seven first-match losses in tournaments after reaching the finals in Istanbul and Sydney earlier in the year. The roller coaster performance will be a tough challenge for his new coach to tackle.
“The weapons were not as good as before. That’s like a domino effect: when the guns are not working well, your confidence is low and errors increase. ” The 30-year-old said about his new pupil.
“He went through that process, but the important thing is to just accept it.”
This week Dimitrov is playing in the Cincinnati Masters. He has already produced back-to-back wins over Gilles Simon and Feliciano Lopez to reach the third round. Dimitrov’s next match will be against Stan Wawrinka.
