With a wide grin and an undeniable air of\u00a0anticipation, former world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov\u00a0has\u00a0arrived in Brisbane ready to kick\u00a0off his 2026 season\u00a0and put arguably his\u00a0most difficult year on tour behind him.<\/p>\n
Following a challenging 2025,\u00a0in\u00a0which\u00a0injuries prompted\u00a0Grand Slam retirements\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0Australian Open,\u00a0Roland Garros\u00a0and Wimbledon,\u00a0and forced him to miss the US Open,\u00a0Dimitrov has returned to Australia with renewed vigour, determined\u00a0to add another Brisbane\u00a0International title\u00a0to his existing two\u00a0trophies there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no better place to start,\u201d said the 34-year-old. \u201cI feel like\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0in a good place mentally and physically, hopefully it puts me in a good place to start competing.<\/p>\n
\u201cPush-ups are back on, chin-ups and everything.\u00a0It helps to feel a bit stronger\u00a0…\u00a0Getting to the gym was\u00a0very big\u00a0for me and getting\u00a0to\u00a0sustain those workouts was a part for me I was\u00a0very happy\u00a0[about].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dimitrov revealed\u00a0that it was more than just strength training that helped him bounce back from the\u00a0setbacks\u00a0of\u00a0last year, which included a hip injury at the Australian Open, a thigh injury at Roland Garros and a pectoral tear while leading eventual champion Jannik Sinner two sets to love at Wimbledon, an injury that also forced him to miss the US Open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A\u00a0good support system and\u00a0healthy\u00a0balance\u00a0was the winning formula.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u00a0very grateful\u00a0of how everything has gone for me and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0very easy\u00a0to get down on yourself, especially having an injury\u00a0the\u00a0way that I had\u00a0\u2026\u00a0In those moments I had the right people around me and\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0not even talking about the\u00a0sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0outside of the sport it gave me a chance to get away from tennis\u00a0\u2026\u00a0and gave me a different perspective. I\u2019m\u00a0happy\u2026\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0in a place where I also\u00a0want more from myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Partner and Mexican actress\u00a0Eiza Gonzalez had proved to be a large part of\u00a0his\u00a0support\u00a0system,\u00a0as has the other\u00a0chief\u00a0contributing factor,\u00a0the fans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s always very humbling for me to get\u00a0out here and I really feel the crowd,\u201d said Dimitrov.\u00a0\u201cI feel the love, I\u00a0feel the\u00a0support,\u00a0and\u00a0coming back after so many years\u00a0\u2013 for me personally as a player\u00a0\u2013 I\u00a0feel very appreciated.\u00a0And that goes a long way for an athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Bulgarian\u2019s\u00a02026 campaign\u00a0marks\u00a0his\u00a010th\u00a0appearance\u00a0at the Brisbane International, which holds a special place in his heart.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince day one I was embraced in a very lovely way,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cI really enjoyed playing at\u00a0Pat Rafter Arena (Queensland Tennis Centre).\u00a0The tournament has\u00a0[been]\u00a0elevated every year. Everything is\u00a0just better\u00a0and better for the players who feel so welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t miss out on the chance to be part of one of the most exciting tournaments of the year. Tickets for the Brisbane International are on sale via\u00a0Ticketmaster<\/a>. Prices start at $30. Premium Experiences are on sale via\u00a0Ticketmaster and the Premium Experiences Team.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With a wide grin and an undeniable air of\u00a0anticipation, former world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov\u00a0has\u00a0arrived in Brisbane ready to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,176511,55949,72820,85,747],"class_list":["post-380411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-brisbane-international-tennis-tournament","tag-grigor-dimitrov","tag-news-article","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380411","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=380411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/380411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=380411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=380411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=380411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}