Dimitrov Excited To Be Back Where It All Started

It may have taken five years, but reigning Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov is back where it all started.

The Bulgarian, who spent time training in Spain as a junior and received his first qualifying wild card into an ATP World Tour event in Barcelona 12 years ago as a 16-year-old, is competing in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell for the first time since 2013.

“Now that I’m back here, it brings back so many good memories,” Dimitrov said. “I practically spent my junior years out here, so it’s just pretty much coming back to the same courts where I used to practise and of course hang around, and just be a kid.”

The World No. 5 will hope that the familiarity will help him produce a strong performance this week. Dimitrov got his clay-court season off to a good start at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, where he advanced to the semi-finals for the first time before losing against the eventual champion, World No. 1 Rafael Nadal.

“For a start, it’s not bad,” said Dimitrov, who had lost in the third round at his previous event, the Miami Open presented by Itau. “I finished Miami a little bit early, which kind of worried me, that I wasn’t going to get a few matches before such an event like Monte-Carlo. But I think at the same time that gave me a little peace of mind that I can rest a little bit and sort of start fresh to prepare. It’s a good start, I’m not going to hide that.”

But Dimitrov does not only want a good start. He wants to maintain consistency on the clay, the surface on which he has captured just one of his eight tour-level titles.

“The past years, I felt I’ve done well on the clay, but not good enough,” Dimitrov said. “I grew up on clay. I feel I can play well and do well, so hopefully this week’s going to give me a little bit of that.”

The 26-year-old is joining 10-time champion Nadal, Top 10 players in Dominic Thiem and David Goffin, as well as former World No. 1 Novak Djokovic to lead the field.

“It’s pretty magnificent to see all the players that are playing out here and ready to compete,” Dimitrov said. “I think everybody’s hungry for some matches and wants to compete, which is great. I’m very happy to see this and I’m all for the competition.”

And just because he lost against Nadal — who has now won 36 consecutive sets on clay — in Monte-Carlo, doesn’t mean Dimitrov lacks belief.

“I think everything is possible,” said Dimitrov, who opens against Frenchman Gilles Simon or Ilya Ivashka of Belarus. “I think you should never rule out any performance or any tournament that you play, doesn’t matter if Roger [Federer] or Rafa or whoever else is playing in that tournament. If you want to be the best, you need to beat the best at some point.”