When Grigor Dimitrov won junior Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2008, he thought he had made it.
With former champions singing his praises and remarking on the similarity of his playing style to Roger Federer, the Bulgarian believed he was made for the world stage. "I thought I was there already," he admits. "At 17, 18, I was like: 's***, I am the thing'. Well, in the end I wasn't nearly close to the thing."
In the five years since that win, Dimitrov has struggled with injuries and cramping issues. For every step forward, it seemed there were two steps back. In 2013, though, things are starting to come together, on and off the court. He pushed Rafael Nadal to a deciding set in Monte Carlo in April, then stunned the world No.1 Novak Djokovic in Madrid in May.
An early defeat in the Aegon Championships at London's Queen's Club was not the ideal start to his Wimbledon preparations but he feels he is ready to step up and finally make inroads in the biggest tournaments. "I want to do better, especially in the slams because it's been one of the things I've been struggling a lot with," said Dimitrov, whose third-round appearance at the French Open was his best grand slam performance to date. "I just need to find the right path and the right things to make sure that, going to a tournament, I know what to do and how to handle things in a better way."
Handling things well is something he will need to do off court, too, now that he is the boyfriend of Maria Sharapova, the women's world No.2 and one of the most photographed sportswomen in the world. For someone who craves a quiet life, he is not exactly doing a good job of staying out of the limelight. "What can I say? Obviously, I chose that, in a way," he said, smiling. "I knew that eventually it would happen, obviously you cannot hide it. I appreciate the question. But I think the most important thing is what I do [on the court]. The rest is definitely private. Of course, everyone is going to ask you questions. But to me the most important is what I do on the court."
It is not easy to stay out of the limelight when everyone is tipping you for greatness. From an early age, he was given the nickname "Baby Fed", while "G Force" and "PrimeTime" are others to have been foisted on him. But in the past year, Dimitrov has been working his way steadily up the rankings to his current position of 31, securing him a Wimbledon seeding. At 22, perhaps now he is ready to show the world how good he really can be.
"I'd definitely say, I'm almost there," he said. "The week in Madrid was great and it is an experience in my life that will always be there. I really feel [the win over Djokovic] was a match I'd been waiting for. So has everyone. It was a very special moment for me. It's been a journey and the outcome was pretty nice. But there is still a lot to work on. Still things I really want to improve."
Having trained at the Mouratoglou academy in Paris, Dimitrov made the move to Sweden last winter to join former world No.2 Magnus Norman in his new academy. Months of training in the dark – "sometimes I didn't see the light for days" – seems to have sharpened his mind and his tennis so far in 2013 has been encouraging. "The biggest thing is that they know tennis," he said. "Someone who has been there, done that, for so many years, has gone through certain paths and made the mistakes that you have done. It helps you a lot.''
His shot-making has never been in doubt but, against Djokovic and Nadal, and at other stages this year, he showed a steel that has taken time to evolve. Matching them shot for shot is one thing, doing it physically is another. Dimitrov is skinny and has struggled with cramp, sometimes early in matches.
Dimitrov said he was trying to get to the bottom of his cramping problems but said the one thing he would like most of all is if people stop calling him Baby Fed.
"Here and there, we have some similarities. But it's really time for everyone to see that I am my own person. I don't know what I have to do to get rid of it," he laughed.
For that to happen, he will need to begin making inroads at the slams. Wimbledon would be a nice place to start.
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