ATP: Strong Nerves at Breakball: The Reason for Grigor Dimitrov’s Success

Grigor Dimitrov has improved in a certain category over the past season. This fact in particular has helped Bulgarians to succeed in some situations.

In tennis there are some pressure situations to overcome. One of the most difficult tasks is to repel a break point on your own serve. The beater is only one point away from making a big step towards victory; the beater is under enormous pressure. There are many possibilities to escape this predicament. A master of this class is the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

The 26-year-old catapulted himself to third place in the world rankings last season and played his best season so far. The year was crowned with the title at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

One factor played a major role in this: Dimitrov kept his cool on break points.

An analysis of the ATP showed that the right-hander was able to ward off 70 percent of the dangerous situations and pulled his head out of the loop. The Bulgarian player had never before achieved such a good score and despaired his opponents in rows. In addition to the good defensive work on break points, another factor played a major role.

Dimitrov served 82 percent on the advantage side and opened the field. With his strong footwork and crackling forehand, the Cincinnati winner followed suit and forced his opponent to make a mistake or beat a winner.

Especially in the ATP finals this move was considered the key to success. In the London O2 arena he swept his opponents off the court in the group stage and played his way to his greatest career success without defeat. All in all, the 26-year-old won 49 games in 2017 and only lost 19 times.

With four titles last year, Dimitrov travels to Brisbane as defending champion at the start of the season. A year ago, he started the season with a final victory over Kei Nishikori in Australia and caused a sensation at the Australian Open when he only failed in the semi-finals after a five-hour battle against Rafael Nadal. Due to the sensational final spurt, Dimitrov is a hot candidate for a very big title in the new calendar year.