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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 21, 2017

Grigor Dimitrov

London, England

G. DIMITROV/J. Benneteau

4-6, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You were down a set. Three of the top seeds went out yesterday. Did it come across your mind, oh, no, I don't want to be the fourth one?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: No. I mean, you don't think of these things when you're in the match. That's not a healthy way of thinking when you play a tennis match. I mean, it's tiring as it is already to have to fight for every point and try to find a way to win, and if those kind of thoughts are starting to come into your head, then you're going to lose the match way before you actually get to the match.

So, no, of course not. I'm just focusing on my things and what I had to do. The outcome was great. I'm just happy that I won the match and I think even happier that I didn't play my best and I won.

Q. The first game was pretty poor as a start, by your standards. But from then on it was pretty much on serve in that first set and from then on you looked pretty good, I thought.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah.

Q. Were you happy turning it around? And where do you think your level is at?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think with each match, level gets higher and higher. I need to think what I can do better the next match. Indeed a pretty poor start for me. Three double faults. That's very unlike me.

But what can you do? It happens. It's as simple as that. I don't want to get too down on myself just because I think throughout the whole match I did a lot of double faults, but they were all intended double faults. It's not like I was tight or nervous or anything like that, no. I was just going for serve.

In a way I'm happy that things turned out to be that way, because if it wasn't for some double faults, I wouldn't have served that well I think throughout the, yeah, set 2 and 3.

Q. Are you feeling as good as you were at the very start of the year, semifinals of the Australian Open?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I mean, I don't compare tournaments in the past to now. The point is to feel good every week. We all know how hard it is to try to compete week in and week out, especially the level that we are playing right now. Everybody is playing well.

Yeah, so I think for me it's just -- I think I'm improving, which is the point. Yeah, in Australia, again, early matches, I didn't play good. I didn't think I played good, but with each match my level was increasing. My confidence was getting better. My game overall was just increasing by each match.

So I'm trying to do the same thing every tournament, not only beginning of the year or, you know, March, February, whatever it is. That's just the way it is. And now I just look forward for every other match I have.

Q. Your ranking has improved again. It was about 37 last year. Closing in on the top 10. Do you set any goals this year?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I haven't focused on the ranking much. But my goal is to, of course, try to get to London. Quite a few times I have missed it by just, you know, whether it's a spot or two the past years.

So this is, I would say, my goal. What it requires to be, whether you like it or not, like top 8, I think that's a higher goal as it is. But again, right now I need to stay grounded, stay humble, and focus on what's ahead of me, to be honest. I'm very excited about not only the grass court season but the summer ahead. I feel it's going to be great. My team is feeling good, and we don't know what we're gonna do. We have our goals in front of us. We have everything that we need to do in order for things to work.

And, yeah, all I'm saying is that you can give yourself the best chance every day to be the best that you can. How the match is sometimes, it's entirely up to the match. You can do whatever you can for yourself.

Q. Vallverdu, good experiences with Murray at Wimbledon in the past. Have you drawn on any of his experiences of that sort of success in Grand Slams to help you?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, yeah, it's going to be our first Wimbledon together. So, yeah, I'm sure we're gonna sit down and talk about that a little bit. But right now we have quarterfinals in Queen's Club. That's No. 1 priority.

Q. You won here in 2014. How much would it mean to you to get the title again, and what would it mean moving on to Wimbledon?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, that's an extra boost, coming to Wimbledon and, let's say, you win here again. Yeah, that you're a good contender for the tournament. But again, I don't like to look that far ahead, because I have done that in the past and it just never has led to any good.

As I said, you just have to stay in the moment and stay in the present, and for me that's the key right now. I think I have been doing a lot of work on and off the court, even on days that I'm not supposed to be on the court.

I mean, yeah, whether that's going to pay or not, that's another thing. As I say, I love the process right now. I'm excited every day to come to the courts, and I think this itself adds up a lot of value to me. And if it doesn't happen now, I know in the long term it's going to come my way.

Q. Any thoughts why many of the top seeds have gone out? Tomas is having a little bit of a battle at the moment.
GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, it is what it is, guys. Let's face it. I mean, everybody is playing good nowadays. I don't think we should be that hard on the situation. I believe all these players that are out right now, they will be extra motivated when Wimbledon comes around. They are going to have extra days to be on the court, extra days to rehab or to work on certain, on their tools.

So, yeah, I mean, it is what it is. What happened happened before. It's not like the first time we have seen something like this. But, yeah, we just pay the right respect to everybody, and then, yeah, you always have two players that come out on the court and one has to come out a winner, and that's I think the beauty of the sport. And even more so now, I think, when you see so many changes, what it is in the ranking, the generations and everything. I think it's great for the sport, great to have that kind of, you know, like fresh new matches all of a sudden, and that's also what makes it special.

Q. How do you think you have evolved as a player between your 2014 win and today?
GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think I definitely played better tennis since 2014. I think that was the year for me that I was kind of riding the wave and I wasn't really ready, I think, prepared enough to keep on maintaining that. And I think that first year was -- I think it took a lot out of me physically and mentally. Yeah, coming to the year after, I didn't really like find the right way to start well.

And I had other changes outside of the court. So just everything played a big role into I think into my development. But, yeah, there are tough moments, and, yeah, I think I'm tougher than anything that I had to overcome.

So I'm proud of myself, I'm proud of my team, the people that have been close to me, my family. This is something that I don't want to forget.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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