Grigor Dimitrov could add Boris Becker to coaching staff
Often cited as the next big thing in tennis, Grigor Dimitrov had struggled to fulfill his potential before 2017 despite cracking the top-10 in 2014, winning just four ATP titles before the breakthrough season that finally drew the best from him. With 49 wins and four ATP crowns, Grigor returned into the top-10 for the first time since February 2015, reaching the semi-final at the Australian Open and lifting the biggest trophy in a career in Cincinnati after beating Nick Kyrgios in the title match. The Bulgarian earned a chance to compete at the ATP Finals for the first time and it inspired him to show everything he posses in his arsenal, defeating Dominic Thiem, David Goffin, Pablo Carreno Busta, Jack Sock and David Goffin to wrap up 1500 points and stand at the top of men's tennis as world no. 3!
Instead of building on that and chase even more significant results in 2018, Grigor delivered mediocre season with 24 wins (half of what he scored in 2017) and just one ATP final in Rotterdam that he lost easily against Roger Federer. Protected by those 1500 points from London, Grigor stayed in the top-10 until November but he will have to work much harder if he wants to return there anytime soon, having to deal with more bad news in 2019 as well. Struggling with a shoulder injury, the 28-year-old Bulgarian has played only four tournaments this year and we are yet to see his best tennis, winning just eight matches so far and dropping out from the top-40 next Monday for the first time since February 2013! Between Barcelona last year and Monte Carlo (Rafael Nadal ousted him in the third round on Thursday), Dimitrov has won just 18 matches on Tour and it wasn't enough to keep him in this ranking group longer, bowing out after more than six years when he was still 21.
Grigor managed to survive a tough period during the summer of 2016 when he was ranked 40th for a couple of weeks, getting back on track and keeping himself inside the top-40 up to this week when the streak got broken, failing to defend the points from the semi-final a year ago. Starting from Barcelona last year, Dimitrov is yet to reach the semi-final on the Tour and that's his worst streak since competing in the first one at Queen's 2012, conquering just 18 wins in the last 12 months and failing to beat the rival from the top-20. Grigor asked for a wild card in Barcelona and lost in the third round to Nicolas Jarry before another early exit in the first round in Madrid when Taylor Fritz ousted him in two tie breaks.
After this defeat, Grigor decided to part ways with Daniel Vallverdu after almost three years, achieving great things together but feeling this is the right moment to make the next step and try to recover his best tennis with someone else in the coaching box. While waiting for an answer from Andre Agassi who is not ready to travel with him outside big tournaments, some Bulgarian sites have shared the news that Grigor negotiates with the six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker who worked with Novak Djokovic between 2014-16.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VnneB2
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