Murray’s ex-coach working wonders for Dimitrov as keys to resurgence shared

Grigor Dimitrov is enjoying his best year since 2017 as he finds himself in the semi-final of the Rolex Paris Masters. He has now reached 40 wins for the third season in his career and is set to re-enter the world’s top 15 for the first time in five years. Dimitrov’s resurgence comes after he hired Andy Murray’s former mentor Jamie Delgado at the end of 2022, and the British tennis coach has opened up on exactly how he helped the Bulgarian rediscover his best form.

Jamie Delgado joined the Dimitrov camp 11 months ago and was previously known for his success with Andy Murray, guiding him to his 2016 Wimbledon title, his second Olympic gold medal and his ascent to No 1 in the world. And he is now working wonders for Dimitrov, who has reached back-to-back Masters semi-finals for the first time since 2014.

“When we started with him last December he was in a tough place,” Delgado said of Dimitrov ahead of the world No 17’s meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas. “Confidence was low, ranking was dropping so we tried to pick up his morale and make him aware of what works well in his game and what things he has to improve. And credit to him, he was working all the time and now he’s starting to see himself play really, really well.”

Delgado’s first goal for Dimitrov was to see the Bulgarian to put on some muscle mass and, since last December, the 32-year-old has put on five to six kilograms of muscle. As for Dimitrov’s mental game, Delgado continued: “I think in big moments he’s being a bit braver now than he was.

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“When I saw him play some of the bigger guys at the beginning of the year he was a bit passive and didn’t look like he really believed he could win. And now whether he wins or loses you can feel that he’s much more positive and trusting his game more.” While their partnership has already proven successful in their first season together, the 46-year-old admitted that their real aim was to get in a good place to have a strong 2024.

“Hopefully with a higher ranking he’ll be better placed in some draws and confidence will be higher so that’s the plan, to set up for next year,” he explained. “He wants to get involved in those big matches again and I think for a little while, the last couple of years, I think he lost the confidence that that could happen. He lost a little bit the belief and I think now he’s starting to see that yeah, maybe, why not?”

As well as having a “pretty clear vision” of how Dimitrov should play, Delgado noted that their good relationship has been a key factor in their quick success together. “I think we can [be] open and I’ve felt like I’ve been able to tell him some hard things along the way that he’s listened to and taken on board,” the Brit explained.

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Dimitrov himself admitted that the pair clicked when they met to discuss a potential partnership at the end of 2022. “Prior to him coming into the team, I spoke a lot with Daniel Vallverdu. He’s the main character on our team,” the eight-time title winner said, referencing his other coach.

“We were thinking who we might feel good to have or someone that we all get along with, someone that he knows as well. You know, there were slim pickings, all in all, around. So we wanted to make sure that we have somebody that has real expertise in the sport, loves the game, that understands the game, lives for the game in the same way, and I’ve known Jamie for quite some time.

“Yeah, there are a bunch of other names that came through, and then when Jamie came around, I was like, hmm, that’s interesting. I’ve never really had that much time with him. We’ve always been very respectful of one another. I’ve practised many times against the players he was coaching, so we all had a very good understanding of one another. When we met up, it kind of just clicked, and then, yeah, the rest is history. Here we are one year later.”

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