Rolex Paris Masters 2023 - Grigor Dimitrov : “I live in the moment. Lately, the road has been strewn with pitfalls, but each victory means more and more to me”

Tennis Actu TV

05/11/2023

Grigor Dimitrov finit l'année 2023 de très belle manière. Début octobre, au Masters 1000 de Shanghai, le Bulgare avait déjà impressionné le public en éliminant Karen Khachanov, Carlos Alcaraz et Nicolas Jarry avant de tomber en demi-finales face à Andrey Rublev. À Bercy, le joueur de 32 ans fait encore mieux. Tombeur de Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Bublik et Hubert Hurkacz, le 17e joueur mondial a sorti le grand jeu ce samedi en demi-finales. Alors qu'il avait perdu ses cinq derniers duels contre Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dimitrov est venu à bout du Grec en 2h34 de jeu, 6-3, 6-7(1), 7-6(3). Inspiré, il a glissé 42 coups gagnants et n'a pas été breaké une seule fois dans la rencontre. Six ans après son titre à Cincinnati, il aura l'occasion de disputer une deuxième finale en Masters 1000 ce dimanche et d'aller chercher un deuxième sacre à ce niveau. Avec ce Dimitrov-là, rien d'impossible. En cas de titre, il remonterait à la 11e place.

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00:00 Well done, Grigor.

00:04 Are you playing better now than 2017 when you won Cincinnati and the Nitto TTP finals?

00:10 I would like to think so.

00:12 Yeah, it's been an amazing week.

00:16 In a way, I was very happy coming into this week because I just wanted to see where I'm at mentally and physically.

00:24 So that was, I think, the biggest thing for me.

00:28 And next thing you know, a week later I'm in the finals.

00:31 So this is as good as it gets right now.

00:35 Grigor, congratulations.

00:40 You've had many highs throughout your career, but what does this second Masters 1000 final mean to you?

00:47 Yeah, it means a lot to me for so many different reasons.

00:51 I don't take this very lightly in the sense that I appreciate it a lot because I know how difficult it has been for me

01:00 in certain tournaments and months throughout the year.

01:06 So it's been a very... I guess it came at the right time.

01:11 I don't know. Honestly, I don't know what to say.

01:15 I think getting to this final means a lot more to me than some big moments in my career.

01:23 So right now I'm just staying in the moment.

01:28 I have one more match to play.

01:30 I'm going to give it all.

01:31 What's going to happen, I don't know.

01:33 But this week means, from a very different perspective, to me a lot.

01:41 Can you share what it felt to play like this in the last tiebreak?

01:45 Because it was some wild shots out there.

01:47 It seems you just couldn't miss.

01:49 Yeah.

01:52 Sometimes you get moments like this throughout the match that you read everything through a little bit more.

02:02 For me, he was serving against so well throughout the second set and I think the third set as well.

02:09 I wasn't really able to get a lot of points on his serve.

02:13 So when the tiebreak began, I said to myself, "OK, he's been playing very solid.

02:20 I've been doing a lot of good things right, but at the same time I've been very solid throughout the whole match.

02:28 So I need to lean on the things that I did well."

02:31 And of course, a couple of serves here and there, I read them very well.

02:34 Great returns, attacked the ball.

02:36 And next thing you know, I was far ahead in the tiebreak, so that was already a big thing.

02:43 Grigor, just following on from what you just said, that match was like a rollercoaster,

02:52 swaying from one side to the next.

02:55 What would you think on how you got out of that to win?

03:00 What was the one crucial thing that you could pinpoint?

03:05 Hmm...

03:07 Yeah, I think there were quite a few moments where...

03:14 I mean, there were games that both of us were serving amazing.

03:19 I think the game that I saved at 15-40 in the third set, that was a big game.

03:24 And I would say that played a crucial moment for me,

03:29 because the momentum could have changed completely and the match could have gotten away from me.

03:34 I mean, it could have gone...

03:36 Again, it's one of those matches that could have gone either way.

03:39 And I think that even the previous times that we've played against each other,

03:42 it has always been like this.

03:44 I feel like we know our game fairly well,

03:48 and then at the same time there were moments where it went his way,

03:52 then it went my way, then it went his way.

03:54 And that's just how it is in such a match.

04:01 It could have gone either way,

04:03 but I just felt like in the important moments throughout the match I was very, very solid.

04:09 Do you consider past records when you're up against somebody?

04:15 And when you look ahead to the final,

04:18 if you could evaluate both players individually on what you could face?

04:24 No, really, I don't think about this that way.

04:29 Again, whoever it is, it's going to be, I think, just as tough as any other match.

04:35 So there's no... I never look into those stats to that extent.

04:39 I'm not overthinking it.

04:42 I don't want to think that far ahead in a way,

04:45 like, "OK, I've played Novak so many times or Andriy so many times."

04:49 No, it's just every match is different in its kind.

04:52 So the only thing I can do is really control my own actions when I get out there.

04:59 And the one thing I know is that I'm going to go out there and just do my best.

05:04 Congratulations today.

05:08 Some people have called this last few weeks a Greek or Renaissance.

05:12 You're managing to beat people like Carlos, Daniil, now Steph,

05:16 that they weren't at the top when you were at the top.

05:18 How are you managing to deny them when they're meant to be the next generation

05:22 or they are the current generation?

05:24 Well, they are the current generation. That goes without saying.

05:28 As I said, I don't...

05:31 To be completely honest, I haven't really followed much on social media and things like that.

05:36 When I play, I'm very disconnected from everything.

05:39 I'm very appreciative of all the support and love that I've gotten throughout.

05:43 So many friends and people and everything.

05:47 I think the fans have been also amazing.

05:49 I've heard so many things from my family and friends.

05:51 "Oh, they said this or they said that."

05:53 So it's very humbling, honestly.

05:55 It's very humbling to be where I'm at in my career and, of course, my age,

05:59 which everybody keeps talking about it.

06:01 I don't feel like that.

06:05 I don't feel like... I feel like I've never left at the same time.

06:11 Of course, did I have a very hard time?

06:13 Yeah, I did.

06:14 I haven't been through lots of ups and downs.

06:16 Yeah, absolutely.

06:17 I'm not shy to say it or to think any other way.

06:24 I think just... I'm enjoying every moment that I get out there to play tennis right now.

06:29 I think, as an athlete, you never know when it might be your last time.

06:34 I mean, injury or something happens, God forbid.

06:36 Then so many other things that don't matter.

06:40 But what matters when you get out there is the time that you have a certain window throughout the match to live that moment.

06:47 And I think that's all I'm trying to do right now.

06:51 Hello, Grigor.

06:55 Grigor, the tennis player, is great for ages on the tour.

06:58 But most of us feel that Grigor, the competitor, might have been stronger than any moment of your career at this moment.

07:06 I mean, the attitude in the decisive moments, not only today but also against Daniel, the composure, the reaction at the end.

07:13 Did you feel that something clicked on that part?

07:16 I mean, being present in the great moments.

07:19 Yeah, I understand.

07:20 I think it's more... It could be also more of the experience.

07:24 I haven't had that much time to reflect on it.

07:29 It's been a crazy swing, I think, throughout Asia.

07:32 Then I came back home.

07:33 I had only four days at home.

07:35 So I haven't really had time to kind of think too much, "What did I do that is so different?"

07:40 or "Why am I reacting that way in moments?"

07:43 I said, "No."

07:44 And that brings me back to a point where when I get out there, I just want to enjoy that moment, like live in that particular moment.

07:52 And how the game would unfold, I don't know.

07:56 I have to play against an opponent, so that is completely out of my hand.

07:59 But the one thing I'm very happy and proud of with myself is the fact that I give myself the chance.

08:05 I mean, it could have... I might hit a forehand inside-out or inside-in that is that far in or out.

08:12 It's such a fine margin.

08:13 And I think for me, where I'm at right now, things in a way, they're going my way.

08:21 But also I'm looking for them as well.

08:23 I'm not waiting for my opponent to do something with it or I'm not waiting for them to miss.

08:28 I want to win or lose on my own terms.

08:30 And that brings me back again to another point, how everything has been happening on and off the court in my life is the same thing.

08:39 I can control my attitude.

08:41 And I don't want to feel sorry for myself for the past years.

08:46 I don't want to feel like I've missed opportunities.

08:49 Yes, have I?

08:50 Of course, too many.

08:51 If you ask me, have I made mistakes?

08:53 Yes, too many.

08:54 So there comes a point where it's like, OK, I'm accepting all that had been thrown at me, what I had to face.

09:01 And I continue.

09:02 I get to have another chance.

09:03 So when you get that chance, try to use it.

09:06 So I'm trying to give myself a chance.

09:08 Thank you.

09:09 Thank you.

09:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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