THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2024

Grigor Dimitrov

Press Conference

G. DIMITROV/G. Monfils

6-3, 6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Just tell me how it felt for you out there today.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Good match. Much better than yesterday. Obviously it's never easy when you have to come back to play the next day after playing five sets. But I'm just glad the way I played, I put the match together, and also the way I recovered. I think that was the key. Stayed within the match as much as possible.

So I think overall I did the basics very well today.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You mentioned after the match to bring on the expectations. You want people to bring on expectations for you. Do you set very high expectations for yourself, or do you put that much pressure on yourself, or do you try and be free in your sort of mindfulness and also playing free on the court?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: As I said out on the court, I think the biggest expectations are coming from myself. Yes, I always have very high standards.

I think just as I think that's a good plus to have. Sometimes it plays a little game with you. But in the same time the expectations, they are always going to be there regardless where the source of it is from.

On that end there's not much I can do. I can only control what I have, and what I have is my game in front of me. Then how the game itself is going to unfold or how I'm going to play my match, it depends entirely on me.

Of course, you have to play an opponent on the other side as well, so that makes things a little more difficult. But it is what it is. I think that's also partially the beauty of the game.

Q. You seemed to be serving really well today. Given the conditions outside, were you glad that you were under the roof today?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, definitely. I was very, very happy honestly. I don't think I've played under the roof at all. Yeah, just very grateful I was able to play that match there. So, yeah, I think today was my turn just to play there. Simple as that.

Again, very appreciative of that. Again, I was also able to maximize everything that came at me today. It was a good end result.

Q. Just wondered, when you are in London for Wimbledon, Queen's, what have you, are there things you like to do when not playing tennis, art galleries or...

GRIGOR DIMITROV: I used to. In the past five, six years I have not gone out of Wimbledon, which is very unlike me.

Yeah, I don't know. I think I just want to maximize my time off the court in terms of rehab and things that I can do better.

I think before I could keep up with a lot more things outside the court and make sure that I come back the next day and I feel like fully ready and have fresh legs, fresh mind. But in the same time now I cannot just walk all around London and come back and expect the next day to be fully at its best.

I think when you want to be the best, when you want to chase that higher end, you really need to maximize that in every corner you possibly can. I don't want to have any stone unturned.

So in saying that, I do the maximum I can to rest, to do the rehab, to do exercise basically, and that's all the time on myself.

I feel great in terms of body and everything like that, but also, I have to realize that I'm not 22, 23 years old where they can do a bunch of things throughout the whole day, and then the next day it's as if nothing happened. I'm mindful of that.

However, when I get out there on the court, my game speaks for itself. So, yeah, I just want to get every edge I possibly can.

Q. What did you used to do in London when you were younger?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Oh, don't open that door (laughing). Yeah, next question, please.

Q. So far these Championships, when you have a debrief with your coaching team, how often are the things that pleased you the same thing that pleased them about your performance?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Good question.

I think we all are very easy with things, like, before the match and after the match and during the match. I think as a player you tend to have a seriously big ego. I think this is also a point where I think that the maturity needs to kick in a little bit to listen a little bit more to your team because, they scout, they watch matches, speak to stats people and stuff like that where they have a little more knowledge of things. You have to be fairly open-minded. I always try to do that, to be as mindful of that.

Sometimes as a player you are, like, You know what, I know better, I'm there, which is the case a lot of the time. But in the same time, you have to have also full trust in your team and in yourself.

So I think when those two things come together, you finding a middle ground.

Q. Just as a follow-up. I know you have spoken about confidence and about your experience. Coming back in the top 10 for the first time in six years, did that do anything, did a switch go off that made you feel a little bit differently coming here this time?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: In what sense?

Q. Feeling unbeatable.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: No, no, but it made me... No, I don't believe in such a thing like unbeatable or stuff like that because there's a reason why all of us are there, right? Everyone thinks that they can beat everybody, so that's the challenge, right? That's why we like the challenge more so than anything else.

I just felt like, I don't know, there's not that much else for me to prove to anybody. This all comes back to the pressure and stuff like that. I have nothing to prove to anybody. I just want to prove things to myself. I don't play for anybody.

So I can just as easily do whatever I want and, let's say, sit back and enjoy the ride of whatever else is out there. But in the same time I don't think I'm going to be good and happy with myself.

There were things that you need to change. And also the one thing is I never wanted to settle and be too comfortable with what I have in front of me. And I think that's one of the reasons why I'm still pushing, I'm still trying, and still torturing everyone in my team to find that extra edge.

For whatever it is, I'm on it because I don't want to first have any regrets. I can say that I've lost some valuable years on the court. I can say that, but in the same time there's no regret. Meaning like, I've learned other stuff, so it's now I just want to put it all together.

It's a pretty interesting ride. It's very different than something that I've ever experienced.

Q. How would you describe your matches with Medvedev and what the challenge would be potentially in the next round?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Yeah, it's always battles I feel against him. And even when the matches have gone one way or the other on both ends, we always I think push each other to very different places.

I feel like every time we played, it's a little bit of a different match. We kind of both know our tendencies in terms of game style and all that. Now, I think we've played only once on grass - I'm not so sure - many years ago.

Yeah, you know, it's just a whole new match. Honestly, I don't really think about it like that far ahead. I want to first reassess what I did today, what I did in order for me to put myself in such a position like today. Whoever I'm playing next, I'm still going to look after my game. I don't think I'm going to try to change something just because of our previous matches.

What I would try to do is play the game that I want to play.

Q. You said you know each other's tendencies. When you think of what makes him as strong of an opponent as he is, what would you think is the most telling factor in the way he plays?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: He's a great competitor. Great, great competitor. I would say one of the best out there. Nothing is given there. So that itself makes already a very tough player to play. Forget about all the shots and everything else. But those are the matches that I want to play, and those are the stages I want to be at.

Yeah, on that end I'm looking forward to it.

Q. You and Musetti are the last panda playing with one-handed backhand.

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Did you say the last panda?

Q. Yeah, panda. Disappearing, you know?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: You always come up with some good stuff, man. Yeah, last pandas.

Q. The last panda and survivors. Do you think that with one-handed backhand now on grass is different than it was maybe ten years ago? What is the difference between your backhand and the one of Musetti, if you see anything?

GRIGOR DIMITROV: Well, of course, it's different. I always say not one one-handed backhand is the same as the other. It's just how it is. I don't know. I think his grip on a backhand is a little bit more close than mine, for example.

But, as you said, we're going to see more, I mean, less and less people playing with one hand. That's for sure. I really believe in that. The game has speed up so much. The players are bigger, stronger. Everyone is serving so much bigger than before. A lot has changed in the game.

But I always say there are still ways to find around that type of a game. For example, on a backhand you have a little bit of a bigger reach, right? When you are with one hand, you can use your slice to set up the point. Of course, it's a little more extra work. However, you still can produce something with it.

Also for one-handers, I feel there's always a way that you need to keep a constant improvement because you can never settle enough with what you have.

At least that's how I am. I can speak for myself.