It has been a difficult few weeks for the popular Bulgarian star, Grigor Dimitrov.
He reached new heights—in his tennis and his rankings—at the end of 2017 after winning his first Masters in Cincinnati and maintaining a strong run all the way to the season’s climax and victory at the World Tour Finals. It took him to No3 in the world, and seemed to give him the perfect launch-pad for 2018 and an assault on more big titles.
He dug into the Australian Open swing with a string of long and demanding matches, making the semis in Brisbane and then the quarters in Melbourne, but his shoulder had taken a pounding, and he pulled out of the defence of his home title in Sofia.
By the time he returned in Rotterdam as the second seed, he admitted that his serve was only just starting to regain its full potency, but court-time would only improve matters. And sure enough, he progressed without dropping a set, though there were a few dips in consistency along the way.
Come the semis, though, and a net exchange saw David Goffin accidentally pole-axed by a ball in the eye. It was a quick win for Dimitrov, perhaps, but a distressing one. And in the final, against Roger Federer, the Bulgarian rapidly lost form after the first set, partly with a leg strain but also, the tournament director afterwards explained to the Rotterdam fans, due to the illness that had kept him up the previous night.
No excuses afterwards from this classy player, of course, but his face during and after the award ceremony told the story.
So the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships waited with bated breath: Dimitrov was the tournament’s headline act this year, and the biggest draw in a field unusually without one of the ‘big four’. Indeed, this is the first time since 2001 that at least one of the famous quartet has not appeared in the Dubai line-up, and they have accounted for 13 of the last 15 titles.
But Dimitrov did not let them down, as he announced to the media there yesterday: “Whatever [the illness] is, it’s behind me. No excuses. I’m going to play.”
He will start as the hot favourite, too, in only his second appearance in Dubai: He lost his only previous main-draw match in the first round in 2011 as a qualifier.
He has been drawn to face Tunisia’s 34-year-old Malek Jaziri, ranked 117, followed by Robin Haase, who took Federer to three sets in Rotterdam last week. The quarters will bring either Philipp Kohlschreiber—who took Andy Murray to the brink in one of the matches of 2017 in Dubai’s quarters last year—or the flamboyant teenager Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 19-year-old single-hander, the youngest player in the draw, beat Mikhail Kukushkin in the first round.
The other scheduled semi-finalist from this half should be either No3 seed Roberto Bautista Agut or No5 seed Richard Gasquet, though the Frenchman faces a man a decade his junior, Borna Coric, in a tough opener.
Topping the bottom half is Lucas Pouille, a semi-finalist last year, and already Montpellier champion as well as runner up in Marseille. However, Pouille has drawn the most unpredictable qualifier, Ernests Gulbis, in his opener.
Other men to watch are Marseille champion, Karen Khachanov, and Evgeny Donskoy, who last year scored a huge upset from a losing position to beat Federer. And the only former Dubai finalist in the draw, Marcos Baghdatis, showed some of his old flair in dismissing Viktor Troicki in his opening match.
All eyes, though, will be on Dimitrov, and the signs as he took part in a dramatic photo-shoot over the Dubai coastline were certainly positive.
He rode the XLine from a height of 170 metres and at a speed of 80 km/h, smiling all the way. His comment?
“It’s very good to feel ready and prepared. But first I have to survive the zip line! I’ve done a lot of them, but there is nothing you can compare to this, it takes my breath away, to be honest. It looks a bit frightening, I’m not going to lie about that, getting here I was nervous, but hey, you only live once!”
He went on to explain that, while he had only played once before in the Emirates, he was familiar with the city.
“I’ve been here more than once, for holidays too, because I have good friends here. It feels a bit different coming here to play, but at the same time, it’s important to do something outside of the court [and] come back to the court a bit fresher and a bit more excited. Hopefully I will play some good tennis.
“I haven’t played here for a long time, but I remember liking playing here. I played against a very high ranked player, if I remember correctly [it was Gasquet, and Dimitrov was No81 at the time].
“My expectations this year are, of course, I want to win the tournament, but what’s most important for me is I build after every match I play, and hopefully I’m able to deliver. That’s very important in every tournament, and this one in particular because it gives you a good platform going towards Miami.”
But as well as flying high over Dubai, the Bulgarian could fly high in the rankings. Marin Cilic edged Dimitrov into fourth place after the Croat’s final finish at the Australian Open. But he is not playing this week, so a final finish for Dimitrov will take him back to No3.
Not that he wants a runner-up trophy: That lavish silver dhow really is a prize worth the lifting.