Dimitrov sets sights on bigger prizes after first win at ATP Tour Finals

Sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov won his opening match at the ATP Tour Finals on Monday and predicted that his best was yet to come.

Grigor Dimitrov is the first Bulgarian to appear at the men's end of season championships. Reuters/Tony O'Brien

The 26-year-old Bulgarian is appearing at the men’s end of season championships for the first time and he opened his campaign with a three set victory over fourth seed Dominic Thiem.

Dimitrov was hailed as one of the next big things on the circuit soon after he won the Wimbledon junior title in 2008. His single handed backhand and his technique brought comparisons with Roger Federer and the nickname 'Baby Fed'. But unlike the Swiss meister, the promise did not lead to crowns.

Only seven titles are housed in the Dimitrov trophy cabinet since he turned professional after that victory on the grass in south-west London.

In the prelude to the 2017 US Open, Dimitrov collected the biggest prize of his senior areer when he won the Cincinnati Masters.

However at the US Open, he lost in the second round to the 20-year-old Russian Andrey Rublev.

“Sooner or later you realise things in life,” said Dimitrov after the win on Monday evening at the O2 Arena. “There are a lot of components that come together. I guess I have been fighting with my demons to find the right path to be consistent enough. I think the best is yet to come.

“I’m excited about what is ahead. I’m already looking forward to the next season. I’m even getting excited about the off-season which is not the most exciting time – because it means lots of training – but I’m even getting excited about that and I think that is a good sign.”

Dimitrov looked the sharper of the duo as he took the opening set 6-3 after 38 minutes.

But Thiem sneaked his way back into the match. The 23-year-old Austrian saved a break point when serving for a 6-5 lead. He held and pounced on his only break point when Dimitrov was trying to take the second set into a tiebreak.

At one set apiece both men appeared to become more tentative when boldness was the key.

Dimitrov gathered two break points at 2-2 but seemed reluctant to advance to the net where he had prospered on previous ventures.

His chances went but he garnered two more break points at 3-3 and had clearly learned from his earlier timidity. He went forward behind a forehand approach and Thiem’s backhand cross court was scooped gently back over the net for a 4-3 lead.

Dimitrov served for the match at 5-4 and Thiem chose the game to unleash his first winner off his famed backhand side to set up a break point. It was 5-5 when Dimitrov sent a backhand long.

Thiem, who is playing in his second end of season championships, will probably want to erase the subsequent 120 seconds or so from his memory.

Trailing 0-30 he coughed up his fifth double fault of the encounter to offer Dimitrov three break points. The Bulgarian did not have to touch the ball again as Thiem threw in another to concede the break.

On the second time of asking Dimitrov got over the line. “The end was a little bit weird,” said Thiem. “I got back to 5-5 and then it was shocking and I got broken. Even when he served for the match again, I still had chances to get back into it. It was open right until the end but there were some things that weren’t good enough. Grigor deserved to win.”

The triumph was revenge in part for his loss to Thiem in the last 16 at the Madrid Masters in May when he squandered five match points.

“I always consider myself an aggressive player and I always want to have that mindset,” said Dimitrov. “I think that’s the most important thing not only to win this event but any event.

“It comes down to a mindset where you can carry on being positive. The people who are winning the big titles do this and they have been doing this not for one or two years but for 10 years. In order to beat them and bring them down you have to go and grab it because they are not going to give it to you.”