ROLAND GARROS

June 1, 2024

Grigor Dimitrov

Press Conference

G. DIMITROV/Z. Bergs

6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Congratulations for your game against Zizou. A question about tomorrow, since we are Polish journalists, and we are curious, how do you feel about fighting against Hubi tomorrow? You played a lot before, and you are always winning. So...

GRIGOR DIMITROV: So? (Laughter.)

Q. No, that's not the question. What do you think? Because Hubi improved a lot on clay this year.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: No, no. For sure, for sure. I'm going to start, for me, he's one of the nicest guys out there, and I truly respect him. We practiced even a lot on clay this year.

I think there is no secrets between us when we get out there on the court, for sure. He's the type of player that can get to any ball. His serve is amazing. He's improved his movement on clay. So I see only positives honestly on his side and on his end.

Now, it's always battles. Also, in the same time, if you think about it, quite a few matches we went till the end, but, you know, it's just another day. I mean, clearly he has a bit of the advantage, like, to finish earlier and all that stuff, but I think there is plenty of time for me to get back, you know, on a good note and try my best. That's all I can do on any given day.

I'm very happy to be in the next round. It's just as simple as that. Of course it's going to be a battle. I want to of course play good tennis. How I'm going to be tomorrow, I don't know, after I wake up, but I sure hope I'm going to be in good shape so I can, I mean, we can put on a good game against each other. So I think we are both looking forward to that one.

Q. I'm coming from Venezuela, and obviously I want to talk to you about your coach, how important Dani Vallverdu has been for your career, and how he talk to you about his home country?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, obviously he's not spoken that much about the home country, but he's truly someone that had brought a lot of structure I think to the team in the past, I mean, yeah, in the past couple of years now, but also in the same time in the previous years back then before we had a break from each other, I feel.

So I think we have evolved. I think we started to understand each other a little bit more. You know, I mean, I'm in a different place in my career and in my life, and so we both had to do a lot of, I think, adjustments to accommodate each other. I think we are both very strong characters, and nobody pulls back.

So I think that's one of the things why it's working, because we both care, we both want to do well, we both want to win. Yeah, sometimes we have, I don't want to say a clash, but a very vocal conversation, so I kind of enjoy it. I guess that's the South American part, but I'm from Bulgaria, so I don't pull back either (smiling).

It's great dynamics between everybody in the team, and plus adding Jamie Delgado, as well, and everyone else in the team, from my fitness coach to the physio to everyone that has been able to put things together, it's just good. It's just working. I think we have established our path and we are following, I think, the right things, yeah, staying as best we can and trying to improve.

Q. Waiting around for this match, were you happy with the decision to put you in that slot, especially when the match before went five? What are the conditions like when you're switching courts in between the middle of a match?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, certainly it's not helping staying in the locker room for 15 hours, but I was happy to get out on the court. I mean, even they put me I think in Jean Bouin or Annexe or anywhere, I would have been fine to play, to be honest.

I played my first match on Sunday and my second match was on Thursday, and tomorrow is Sunday. I kind of lost track of time and place and everything like that. I just have to stay on it. That's just how it is.

I think after, I don't know, 17 naps and the amount of rice I had and fruits and everything, it has truly been an experience for me after 15 years to experience something new, so I'm pretty happy about it (smiling).