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MUTUA MADRID OPEN

May 3, 2016

Grigor Dimitrov

Madrid, Spain

P. BUSTA CARRENO/G. Dimitrov

7-6, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You looked a little bit uncomfortable, like you couldn't get into a rhythm. Was it just a little bit soon after the final or just the courts were different?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Everything is different, you know. It's a new tournament. It's a new match. What can I say? Whatever I say it's going to sound as an excuse.

I don't have excuses whatsoever for it. I'm not going to lie. I had a pretty rough final out in Turkey, and then I flew yesterday morning.

I didn't even hit on the courts yesterday. Today was my only sort of 20 minutes to adjust for the match. Only thing I could do is go out and try. I mean, this is something I have to accept and move on. I'm looking a little bit on the bright side. I'm going to have a few days' rest and get the chance for my body to recover, maybe go early to Rome, and hopefully it's better.

Q. What is the mindset now? I guess emotionally it was pretty hard for you past couple of days. How did you feel on the court before that? Is it a tough period you feel you're in now?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I don't feel it's about the period. I'm very hard on myself in general. I always want perfection. I know there is no such thing as perfection, but I'm always aiming to be the best that I can. Sometimes it gets to you a little bit. Like I wanted it too much. That also showed that I cared a lot. I'm not just playing sometimes a match just to say that I'm playing matches, but they mean something to me.

Yeah, the past days have been rough, but in a way I'm happy that this just is behind me now. It just passed like a little storm. Like I felt a little bit like a kite in a perfect storm, so to speak, you know. It felt all right, you know, so...

It's in the past, and only thing I can do is just put a smile on my face and be happy for what I do. I'm healthy. A lot of tournaments ahead. Just get on with the positivity and keep up the good work.

Q. About the Istanbul match, looking back on how it ended, what are your thoughts on it? I guess you can explain what was going through your head as the strings keep breaking and the warnings were piling up.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, a lot was going on. It's no fun when you break strings on such big points and in such big of course moments. As I said, it gets to you. That shows also that we're all human. I mean, I let myself down, and mainly like my family and my team. Of course all the audience. You know, me. I don't usually do that kind of stuff. It sets a super bad example for the youth, in a way.

It happened. That just happened. That was me that day. I'm not trying to hide it. I'm sure everyone saw it, so I don't shy away from it. As I said, I care a lot for the matches. I care and I was so close. In Sydney I was so close. I had a match point, then serving for the match there. So it just builds up a little bit, yeah.

Q. Did you talk to Diego after the match? It was obviously a weird way for him to win his first title.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, of course. He was in the locker room and of course I apologized. I know what is it to win your first title, and to win it in that way, I know it feels shit. If I were him I wouldn't talk to me, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I congratulated him and really apologized for taking that moment away from him. I can only learn from it. In the same time, in the heat of the moment, you just sometimes don't know what can come up. Actually I tweeted as well because I really owe like to him personally that apology.

I mean, I would've done it to whoever I played because I know it sucks.

Q. You said for this year you want to reboot and start over but get off to a new platform. How do you feel that has gone in the past four months and would you rate your year so far?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think I'm a better player right now. I feel I'm in a better spot. A few sets back, like they're not going to like really bother me too much.

I have a strong team around me now. We're just, working to find the best way possible. It's not easy. It's going to take time to structure the game again, everything. Everything takes time.

I feel I'm a better player than one year ago. Of course I don't judge this by the results or the ranking or anything like that. For me, it's important in my game. I feel, for example, like my backhand side is so much better and stronger, so I feel that I can count on that a little bit more.

Few other elements of the game are getting there. Now the only thing is to put it together into the game and to find that rhythm.

It's not about rebooting anymore. I don't feel that. I think I've established quite a few things around me. I've established myself as a player. Now I want to get back to of course where I was ranking-wise, and then think after that.

I think I've learned my lessons. I know the feeling what is it to be 8 and 28, so I'm sure when I get back there I'm going to do things differently and have a different approach.

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