Grigor Dimitrov: I've never been a fan of this thing called Next Gen
This is part one of a two-part article on Grigor Dimitrov from Tennis World USA's coverage at the 2019 Barcelona Open.
Know of Grigor Dimitrov? He is the former world no.3, 2017 ATP World Tour Finals champion, and two-time Major semi-finalist who is now straddling the fringes of the top-50. Know of Grigor Dimitrov? He is the player who was once called ‘Baby Fed’ and who is now regarded as the guy leading the bunch of those cast aside with the moniker, ‘Lost Generation’.
Onlookers, both casual and keenly enthusiastic, watching the sport may not have thought – or still think – twice about affixing the tag onto the player. But for the 27-year-old playing with the weight of expectations not of his making, and the knowledge of how they turned sour when the weather turned foul on him, these have been nothing but an unwanted hindrance that he has had to work around with, sans any option to cast them aside.
With these aspects continuing to bookmark his prospects in what is nearly his 11th year on the ATP Tour even as the sport’s viewers have directed their attention onto the younger crop of players, or NextGen as they are popularly called, Dimitrov has – with his experience behind him – quite a disinterested take about the terminology and what it brings about along.
In a brief conversation with Tennis World USA after his win over Fernando Verdasco in Barcelona, opening up on this, stating he wanted to be “very frank of a few things,” Dimitrov said, “This thing called the ‘Next Generation’ or something (and) all that, I have never been a big fan of it just because when I was upcoming, I was 17-18 years old when I started playing those tournaments (ATP Tour).”
The Bulgarian recollected that the comparisons – of the similarities – between Roger Federer and him started during an edition of the ABN Amro Open in Rotterdam. “I remember Rotterdam was one of my first tournaments. This is where actually, all the comparisons and everything started with Roger,” shared Dimitrov. Then, explaining his scepticism about these juxtapositions that have spilled onto the present as well, he continued, “I think that (it was) very unnecessary pressure on any junior player that comes into men’s tennis. Nobody should be compared to anybody. Yes, there might be some resemblance, some comparisons (similarities) here and there.”
For Dimitrov, these similarities hide one of the reasons why he loves his game of choice. “What I love in the sport so much is that we are all so different in terms of game, what we believe in and what we do outside of the court and so on,” he said, adding, “And yet, we are still fighting for the same thing.”
Dimitrov believes that this is the “biggest diversity” tennis has to offer currently. It is for this reason, Dimitrov said, he never approached the game from the perspective of being a part of different generation. Taking care to emphasise that this was just his “opinion”, Dimitrov said that his approach was also because he did not want to pile more onto his plate than what was absolutely needed.
He said, “I (have) never looked (at) myself as the Next Generation or (have had) any expectations because I already put a lot on myself so if I have to take on everything from outside, it will be tough to play.”
Taking cue from older players
In response to this, when queried if the so-called passage of age did not trouble him, Dimitrov brushed it off with a laugh and retorted, “No, look (at) what (the) other guys are doing who are 30 years old – they are playing their best tennis.” His tone changed to seriousness as he then explained, “I think your body matures a little bit later sometimes, your mentality changes, things are happening to you on and off the court so you learn from all these things and that ultimately makes you stronger and more experienced.”
This is what maturity is all about for Dimitrov. “For some players, it comes in (at) very different portions of their career,” he noted. Perhaps, it’s time tennisdom starts to show its matured side, too?
Photo Credit: Tennistonic
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2Pv7MkX
No comments