{"id":243275,"date":"2025-10-27T03:11:10","date_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:11:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243275\/"},"modified":"2025-10-27T03:11:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T03:11:10","slug":"grigor-dimitrov-speaks-for-the-first-time-ahead-of-his-return-to-tennis-after-injury-at-wimbledon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/243275\/","title":{"rendered":"Grigor Dimitrov speaks for the first time ahead of his return to tennis after injury at Wimbledon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>   <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMXlnMTNoeXE4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"28\" height=\"28\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/wp-content\/themes\/grv-media\/img\/google-discover.svg\" alt=\"\"\/> Follow us on Google Discover <\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>Grigor Dimitrov is finally set to make his return to the ATP Tour nearly four months on from his heartbreaking Wimbledon exit. <\/p>\n<p>The Bulgarian was enjoying a strong campaign at the All England Club in the summer, having dropped just one set en route to the fourth round, where he met <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/jannik-sinner\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jannik Sinner<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In his clash with the eventual champion, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/grigor-dimitrov\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dimitrov<\/a> took a commanding two-set lead and was closing in on a huge upset victory.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2223988143-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in action against Jannik Sinner of Italy during the Gentlemen's Singles fourth round match on day eight of The Championships Wimbledon 2025 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.\" class=\"wp-image-109167\" \/>Photo by Visionhaus\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>What followed was a gutting ending to his run in South West London, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/news\/grigor-dimitrov-sends-emotional-message-to-fans-days-after-wimbledon-retirement\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dimitrov injured his pectoral muscle<\/a> when serving at 2-2 in the third set, and was ultimately forced to retire from the contest.<\/p>\n<p>The 34-year-old is back now, however, and recently shared his feelings heading into the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/Paris-Masters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Paris Masters<\/a>, where he is a former finalist.<\/p>\n<p>Grigor Dimitrov speaks ahead of the 2025 Paris Masters<\/p>\n<p>As per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.universtennis.com\/2025\/10\/26\/grigor-dimitrov-fait-son-retour-surprise-a-paris-apres-14-semaines-dabsence\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Univers Tennis<\/a>, ahead of his return to tour-level action, he said: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of emotion, but in a good way.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s good to be back with the guys and challenging ourselves again. It\u2019s been a good week so far; I\u2019m trying to put in as many hours as possible on the court, because that\u2019s what I\u2019ve been missing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the same time, I\u2019m trying to stay focused on the basics. My goal is to return at full strength next year. But for now, the real challenge is to see how my body reacts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always enjoyed these last tournaments of the year. I don\u2019t want to think too much, just be kind to myself and my body, and test what I can still improve for next season.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/GettyImages-2223997519-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"Grigor Dimitrov sits on the floor as he suffers an injury at Wimbledon in 2025\" class=\"wp-image-109468\" \/>Photo by Shi Tang\/Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Dimitrov will have a difficult task in his opening match at the event, having drawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/Giovanni-Mpetshi-Perricard\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard<\/a> in the first round. <\/p>\n<p>Should he advance past the big-serving Frenchman, his second-round opponent will either be Swiss Indoors semifinalist Jaume Munar or Almaty Open champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/daniil-medvedev\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Daniil Medvedev<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Grigor Dimitrov\u2019s record at the Paris Masters over the years<\/p>\n<p>Dimitrov has appeared at the Paris Masters 12 times in his career, holding an overall record of 24 wins and 12 losses at the event. <\/p>\n<p>Though he has never won the title, Dimitrov came close in 2023, when he advanced all the way to the championship match. <\/p>\n<p>He beat several top stars en route to the final, including Medvedev and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/stefanos-tsitsipas\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>RoundOpponentRound of 64Lorenzo Musetti (W)Round of 32Daniil Medvedev (W)Round of 16Alexander Bublik (W)QuarterfinalsHubert Hurkacz (W)SemifinalsStefanos Tsitsipas (W)FinalNovak Djokovic (L)Grigor Dimitrov\u2019s 2023 Paris Masters campaign<\/p>\n<p>In the final, Dimitrov was beaten by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetennisgazette.com\/tag\/novak-djokovic\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Novak Djokovic<\/a>, with the Serb overcoming him in straight sets to hoist the title. <\/p>\n<p>His second-best finish at the Paris Masters came in 2019, when he made the semifinals before losing to Djokovic. <\/p>\n<p>Last season, Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals, where he was knocked out by Karen Khachanov. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Grigor Dimitrov is finally set to make his return to the ATP Tour&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[753,64,63,55949,143401,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-243275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-grigor-dimitrov","12":"tag-paris-masters","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}