Grigor Dimitrov: "The UTS is actually a lot of fun and is great for the players"

Grigor Dimitrov had a tumultuous opening weekend of the second run of the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS). In its relatively shorter second edition where a few new faces will be seen along with others who were a part of UTS I, the Bulgarian’s appearance had been one of the highly-awaited ones.  

Dimitrov has been sorted into Group A along with Richard Gasquet, Feliciano Lopez and Alexei Popyrin. In his first two matches – against Gasquet on Saturday and against Lopez on Sunday – he suffered losses. This, in turn, led to worries about his physical state after his recovery from Covid-19 although the two results were a contrast in themselves despite him ending on the losing side.

Grigor Dimitrov on Fitness, UTS 

In his post-match interaction with the media on Sunday, TennisWorld USA asked Dimitrov how he would assess himself after the initial two results. To this, Dimitrov replied, “Honestly, I am positive right now. It’s definitely not easy when you come back and play – especially in a format like this. I think it was definitely tricky (on Saturday) and I was trying to use things more differently (on Sunday).” 

Then, musing about the close score-line in his match against Lopez – the match ended in sudden death – while Dimitrov said it was a shame he wasn’t able to win, he also admitted that the results showed his fitness wasn’t where he wanted it to be. “But obviously I am not ready to compete at the highest level right now. I don’t shy away from that, I admit it. Being home for so long never helps,” he said, referring to his illness and his inability to train because of it.

However, Girgor Dimitrov also pointed out that playing the UTS was a good way for players to reacclimatise themselves with the competitive thrust of the sport. “I wish I could indefinitely enjoy more of the format here and everything else that there is out here,” he shared. “The UTS is actually a lot of fun and is great for the players. So, we can actually use our way of competing again even though it’s not the same, without the crowd and everything else. It comes close. So, this is what we all are, kind of, looking forward (to).”

Photo Credit: Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS)

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