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The Bulgarian’s return to form has been dramatic but his semi-final opponent has emerged from the NextGen pack as the best player outside the big three
After Grigor Dimitrov’s breathless five-set upset of Roger Federer on Tuesday night, one question stuck in the mind: has there ever been a greater turnaround in a single tournament? Twelve months ago, Dimitrov stood handsomely in the top 10, yet over the following year his form turned to dust. He fell 70 spots from eighth to 78th. He struggled with shoulder injuries. Only six weeks ago at a small warm-up tournament in Atlanta, the 28-year-old lost to the 405th-ranked Kevin Kim.
Dimitrov stresses that nothing clicked, that his turnaround is a simple consequence of his consistent work through the doubts. Throughout his run to a third career grand slam semi-final, he has played clean, varied tennis with conviction. He dropped only one set en route to the quarter-finals and against Federer, in the middle of battle, he found himself overjoyed by how good his legs felt after so long on the court. Continue reading...