Nobody was more surprised about Grigor Dimitrov reaching the semifinals of the US Open than the man himself.
Coming into the final grand slam of 2019, the former world No.3 has struggled on the tour. After the French Open, he failed to win back-to-back matches at six consecutive tournaments. Losing to players ranging from world No.21 Felix Auger Aliassime to the world No.405 Darian King. During that period, his ranking plummeted by more than 30 places to 78th in the world. It was starting to look like this was a season to forget. That was until the US Open.
Manoeuvring his way through the first week in Flushing Meadows and avoiding a clash with 12th seed Bona Coric, who withdrew from their clash due to injury, Dimitrov has a chance to play Roger Federer. A player he has been compared to throughout his roller coaster career. On paper he was the underdog, but he managed to prevail in five-sets on Tuesday. Shocking the 20-time grand slam champion, who was affected by a back issue.
“I felt very comfortable from the first point, despite the fact that I was missing a little bit here and there. I had a few opportunities. I kept on believing in what I had to do, in my game plan. I was moving really well. I was hitting my backhand pretty good, changing up the shots.” Said Dimitrov.
“One of the only things for me was try to keep him as much as possible on the court. I did that very well. A lot of long games. Clearly in the end he was not at his best. I used every opportunity I had.”
So how has Dimitrov managed to go from a series of poor runs to a grand slam semi-final so rapidly? For him, he believes things are starting to fall into place when it comes to his game after a turbulent season. He is currently mentored on the tour by former players Andre Agassi and Radek Stepanek.
“It was not a pretty time. I’m not going to lie.” Dimitrov admits. “I don’t want to sound too humble, but it was just another match for me really. I don’t want to say I had nothing to lose, because I felt I did.”
“I just came out prepared the best that I could, especially coming out from the past two weeks of preparation, fitness, good matches. I’m trying to build off that. Little by little, things are starting to fall into their place.”
Yet to win a title since the 2017 ATP Finals, the 28-year-old is now in with a strong chance of reaching his first ever grand slam final. In the last four he will take on Daniil Medvedev. The Russian world No.5 has been a revelation on the tour in recent weeks and has won 19 out of 21 matches since Wimbledon. However, Medvedev is currently nursing an array of physical issues with numerous parts of his body taped up. Following his fourth round meeting with Stan Wawrinka, he admitted that he contemplated retiring from the match at one point.
“I think obviously he’s been pretty focused throughout the whole summer. He’s been having a great summer, a lot of confidence building up, winning Cincinnati. A lot of good matches, a lot behind him really.” He said of his next opponent.
“I’ve just seen him a little bit in the background here, how he has played. Clearly he’s doing something right. It’s not going to be an easy match.”
As a result of his US Open run, Dimitrov is set to return back into the world’s top 30 on Monday for the first time since April. He will play his semi-final match against Medvedev on Friday.
