MELBOURNE SUMMER SET

January 3, 2022

Grigor Dimitrov

Press Conference

Q. How does it feel to be back in Melbourne?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Very good. Very good. It's nice. I've been here already a week, and it feels great. Every time you come out here, it's always positive, and yeah, it's always been great to start the year. Obviously under different circumstances this year, which makes it even, I think, a little bit nicer. Yeah, we try to make it one day at a time.

Q. You've had some great results here in Melbourne. What is it that brings out the best in your game here?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Just the start of the year is always -- it can be tricky, to be completely honest. It can easily go both ways. I've been very fortunate to have very good matches at the start of the year, and I think that really helps me to get into a very good rhythm, and I think that's probably the biggest, I think, plus for me. I love also the conditions out here. I like when it's like really warm, and I like how the course really like suits me. Of course the crowd, the atmosphere always adds up.

I think it's just very important to stay focused, especially the first -- sort of the first big tournament out of the year, and it kind of sets the tone for the whole year. Of course there's no guarantee you're going to play amazing tennis, but if you really focus on the right things, because you have done the work throughout the whole season, so you're so eager to get out there and test your skills that if you catch the good wave, things are really happening for you.

Q. Is there anything in particular that you've been working on during the off-season?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I think a lot of small things. Nothing too big. Nothing too major. I've had already 13 off-seasons, so there's only so much you can do. But I really tried to kind of divide the work a little bit this off-season to try to rest, but at the same time make sure that I do some sort of work while I'm resting, and that also helps me to enjoy a little bit more, to be a bit more calmer, and at the same time not to get things too serious too early on.

I think we tend to do that a lot, especially in the off-season, because you want to do so much, you want to try so much, but for me it's been a very -- how can I say, very basic and simple process, and I think I've learned a lot. I think the experience over the years that I have accumulated, it has I think paid off, and let's see. This year I'm very excited. The body feels good, which is always a plus, so let's see.

Q. Obviously it's been a challenging period on the tour the last couple of years. Does that make you sort of more grateful for being able to start another season?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, I think a lot of things have changed over the past couple of years, not only off the court but on the court for every individual, and of course for all the tournaments and the tour itself. It has been a challenging years, and we're still not sort of out of the woods. There's still so much that is going on behind the scene and all that.

Of course I'm grateful that I get the chance to get out there and do what I love to do, and I don't take it for granted. I never have.

Of course you've lost sight for some things, but yes, the past years has really been I think even more -- I don't want to say interesting, but I'm going to say interesting in terms of finding your own ground, your own way, and of course changing some things up because it's inevitable, you have to change certain things and also I think put yourself in a better mental state.

Q. It's been a big change, the vaccination mandate for players when they come to Australia. Is it something you think will happen at other tournaments in 2022? Is it something you have an idea about, whether it's Indian Wells or elsewhere?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I don't know. Honestly I've read on so many different sports, so many different versions. I really don't know how, what -- what's going to take place in the next months. We can only guess that. Here our rules were very clear, so everybody had to follow them. That's it. In different sports, it's just different, that's it.

I mean, I don't know how much further I can elaborate honestly on that topic. I wish I could. It's just too much conversations for such a clear rules. That's it. There's not much else to say.

Of course the safety of everybody is the most important, and everybody wants to play at the same time, as well, and everybody needs the game, needs to play, needs to travel, needs to work. I guess I understand the whole -- how can I say, not even saga but everything that is going on around. It's very understandable, I think, on both ends.

Hopefully things get better and better, and we don't have to go further into those kind of details.

Q. Just a follow-up question perhaps. The tournament organizers and Craig Tiley have indicated that some players would have been eligible for a medical exemption. Do you personally or would you personally have any problem playing across from net from someone who's been granted an exemption? Do you have a view on that?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure there's a reason if somebody needs that. I'm all for health, so again, if it's legit, if it's to that extent and that point, yeah, of course. We all want to have good around that.

You know, it is what it is, and some are maybe a little bit more fortunate than others, but on the big scheme of things, it is what it is.