The partnership between Grigor Dimitrov and new coach Franco Davin is off to a winning start as the Bulgarian beat Joao Sousa 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 during second-round action at the Malaysian Open on Thursday. Dimitrov won the last four games of the match after trailing 4-2 in the third set to advance in two hours and seven minutes.
A disappointing season leaves Dimitrov at No. 19 in the world and 24th in the race to London. He was an alternate for the World Tour Finals in 2014 (but declined the invitation). When his struggles continued with a blowout loss to Richard Gasquet in the third round at Wimbledon, Dimitrov parted ways with coach Roger Rasheed.
Last week he hired Davin on a trial basis for the Asian swing in Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo. Davin had been the long-time coach of Juan Martin Del Potro, but that pairing came to an end this summer as Del Potro’s left-wrist problems have kept him off the tour for the better part of two years.
Twice have players won Grand Slam singles titles with Davin in their corner. Gaston Gaudio triumphed at the 2004 French Open before Del Potro prevailed at the 2009 U.S. Open.
Dimitrov will go up against Benjamin Becker in the Kuala Lumpur quarterfinals on Friday.
Dimitrov is going nowhere fast. In fact he’s going backwards. This guy is more concerned about his look & style & expects things will just happen for him on the court. His attitude to training is poor & he is now of no threat to anyone in the top 50 in the world.
Hahaha
Actually he cares it’s just he is lacking confidence right now. He will be back next year. If he isn’t then I’ll be surprised. Everyone has these kinds of years (2015 Rafa, 2013 fed, 2014 Murray, etc.)
Murray was hurt in 2014
Federer was way worse in 2013 than Nadal has been in 2015
One of the commentators attributed Dimitrov’s poor form to the ’emotional turmoil’ (his words) caused by the split from Sharapova followed by Rasheed.
Dimitrov cant even string 2 wins together these days. If he somehow wins 1 match he inevitably loses the next to a nobody.
I dont think Fed in 2013 was worse than Rafa in 2015. Fed had done better at the slams; what Rafa was better at was to win 2 more 250/500 titles so far this year. At the Masters, Rafa had played three more events than Fed up to Shanghai so he had more points at the Masters. Unless Rafa does well at Basel, Paris and WTF, I dont consider his season as any better than Fed’s 2013.
I cant remember which was worse. I would say Fed’s 2013 was more “alarming.”