ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 4, 2023

Grigor Dimitrov

Press Conference

G. DIMITROV/S. Tsitsipas

6-3, 6-7, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Well done, Grigor. Are you playing better now than 2017 when you won Cincinnati and the Nitto ATP Finals?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I would like to think so. Yeah, it's been an amazing week. In a way, I was very happy coming into this week, because I just wanted to see where I'm at mentally and physically. That was I think the biggest thing for me.

Next thing you know, a week later I'm on the final. So this is, yeah, as good as it gets right now (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. You have had many highs throughout your career, but what does this second Masters 1000 final mean to you?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, it means a lot to me for so many different reasons. I don't take this very lightly in a sense that, I mean, I appreciate it a lot because I know how difficult it has been for me, certain tournaments and months throughout the year. So I guess this came at the right time.

I don't know. I don't know what to say. I think getting to this final means a lot more to me than some, I think even some moments, some big moments in my career.

Right now I'm just staying in the moment. I have one more match to play. I'm going to give it all. What's gonna happen, I don't know. But I'd say this week means, from a very different perspective to me, a lot.

Q. Can you share what it felt to play like this in the last tiebreak? Because it was some wild shots out there. It seems you just couldn't miss.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, sometimes you get moments like this I think throughout the match that you kind of read everything through a little bit more. And for me he was serving again so well throughout the second set and I think the third set, as well. I wasn't really able to get on a lot of points on his serve.

When the tiebreak began, I said to myself, Okay, he's been playing very solid. I have been doing a lot of good things right. But in the same time, I have been very, like, solid throughout the whole match. So I need to lean on the things that I did well.

Of course a couple of serves here and there, I read them very well. Great returns, attack the ball. Yeah, next thing you know, I was far ahead in the tiebreak. So that was already a big thing.

Q. Just following on from what you just said. That match was like a roller coaster, swaying from one side to the next. What would you think on how you got out of that to win? What was the one crucial thing that you could pinpoint, if there was only one?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, I think there were quite a few moments where I think -- I mean, there were games that both of us were serving amazing. I think the game that I saved at 15-40 in the third set, like, that was a big game. I would say that played, like, a crucial moment for me, because the momentum could have changed completely and then the match could have gotten away from me.

I mean, it could have gone -- again, it's one of those matches that could have gone either way. I think that even the previous times that we've played against each other has always been like this. I feel like we know our game fairly well, and then in the same time there were moments that went his way, then it went my way, then it went his way.

That's just how it is in such a match. I mean, it could have gone either way. I just felt like in the important moments throughout the match, I was very, very solid.

Q. Do you consider past records when you're up against somebody? You look ahead to the final, if you could evaluate both players individually on what you could face.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: No, really, I don't think about this that way. Again, whoever it is is gonna be, I think, just as tough as any other match. I never look into those stats to that extent or, like, I'm not overthinking it. I don't want to also, like, think that far ahead in a way, like, okay, I've played Novak so many times or Andrey so many times.

No, just every match is different in its kind. Only thing I can do is really control my own actions when I get out there. The one thing I know is I'm going to go out there and just do my best.

Q. Some people have called this last few weeks a Grigor renaissance. You're managing to beat people like Carlos, Daniil, now Stef, that they weren't at the top when you were at the top. How are you managing to deny them when they're meant to be the next generation or they are the current generation?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, they are the current generation. That goes without saying (smiling).

As I said, to be completely honest, I haven't really followed much on social media and things like that when I play. I'm very disconnected from everything. I'm very appreciative of I think all the support and love that I've gotten throughout of so many friends and people and everything.

I think the fans have been also amazing. I've heard so many things from my family, friends, Oh, they said this, they said that.

So it's very humbling. Honestly, it's very humbling to be where I'm at in my career and of course in my age, which everybody keeps talking about it (smiling).

I don't feel like that. You know, I felt like I've never left. In the same time, of course, did I have a very hard time? Yeah, I did. Have I been through a lot of ups and downs? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm not shy to say it or to think any other way.

I think just I'm enjoying every moment that I get out there to play tennis right now. I think as an athlete you never know when it might be your last time, injury or something happens, God forbid. So many other things, they don't matter, but what matters when you get out there is the time that you have certain windows throughout the match to live that moment.

I think that's all I'm trying to do right now.

Q. Grigor the tennis player is great for ages on the tour, but most of us feel that Grigor the competitor might have been stronger than any moment of your career at this moment. I mean, the attitude of this moment not only today but also against Daniil, the composure and the reaction at the end, did you feel like something click on that part?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, I understand that. I think it could be also more of the experience. I haven't had that much time to reflect on it. It's been a crazy swing I think throughout Asia. Then I came back home. I had only four days at home.

I haven't really had time to kind of think too much what did I do that is so different or why am I reacting that way in moments? But that brings me back to a point where when I get out there I just want to enjoy that moment, live in that particular moment.

And how the game would unfold, I don't know, I'd have to play against an opponent. So that is completely out of my hands.

The one thing I'm very happy and proud with myself is the fact that I give myself the chance. I mean, I might hit a forehand inside out or inside in that is that far in or out. It's such fine margins.

I think for me where I'm at right now, you know, things in a way, they're going my way, but also I'm looking for them as well. I'm not waiting for my opponent to do something with it or I'm not waiting for them to miss.

I want to win or lose on my own terms. That brings me back again to another point, how everything has been happening on and off the court in my life is the same thing. I can control my attitude, and I don't want to feel sorry for myself for the past years. I don't want to feel like I have missed opportunities. Yes, have I? Yeah, of course, too many, if you ask me. Have I made mistakes? Yes, too many.

There comes a point where it's like, okay, I'm accepting all that had been thrown at me, what I had to face, and I continue. I get to have another chance. So when you get that chance, try to use it. So I'm trying to give myself a chance.