{"id":377014,"date":"2025-12-30T09:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377014\/"},"modified":"2025-12-30T09:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T09:36:10","slug":"new-coach-rebuilt-body-grigor-dimitrov-begins-his-latest-climb-with-xavier-malisse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/377014\/","title":{"rendered":"New coach, rebuilt body: Grigor Dimitrov begins his latest climb with Xavier Malisse"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grigor Dimitrov<\/a> has officially signaled a \u201cnew chapter\u201d in his career by appointing Xavier Malisse from Belgium as his head coach for the start of the 2026 season. The announcement, made during his early arrival for the Brisbane International<\/a>, marks a significant tactical shift for the 34-year-old Bulgarian following the end of his eight-year collaboration with Daniel Vallverdu and a journey with Jamie Delgado that ended in 2025, a separation that occurred while Dimitrov was sidelined for nearly four months due to a pectoral injury.<\/p>\n

Dimitrov, a former world No. 3 in 2017 and perennial fan favorite, has touched down in Queensland to launch a 2026 campaign that feels like a total structural reset. After a 2025 season marred by significant physical setbacks, Dimitrov has confirmed this major shift in his coaching box after a short appearance at the Rolex Paris Masters end of October. In Paris, he secured one victory against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard before withdrawing ahead of his second-round match due to shoulder discomfort.<\/p>\n

Dimitrov : \u201creshuffled the whole thing\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cXavier is next to me,\u201d Dimitrov confirmed during a practice session at the Queensland Tennis Centre. \u201cWe\u2019ve decided on a new arrangement. It brings clarity. From a fitness point of view, I\u2019ve reshuffled the whole thing. My whole career, as well. Major changes, all of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLast year I felt like it started off my season pretty strong, so I\u2019m looking forward to hopefully doing the same thing,\u201d Grigor Dimitrov said upon arriving in Brisbane. \u201cBut yeah, you never know what to expect at the start of the year. You\u2019ve been practicing for a few weeks straight, so hopefully the things that I\u2019ve been working on in practice can translate over.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appointment of Malisse, the former world No. 19 from Belgium, aims at injecting fresh clarity into a game that remains one of the most aesthetic on the ATP Tour but has recently been sidelined by the frailty of the athlete.<\/p>\n

\"GrigorGrigor Dimitrov, Rolex Paris Masters 2025 | \u00a9 F. Pestellini \/ PsNewz<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took time to build the muscles back\u201d<\/p>\n


\n \"\"
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201creshuffle\u201d was born out of necessity. Dimitrov was forced to withdraw from several high-profile events after his retirement against Jannik Sinner at Wimbledon on July 7, 2025. Despite leading the world No. 1 by a score of 6-3, 7-5, 2-2, Dimitrov collapsed on court with what was later confirmed to be a partial tear of his right pectoralis major muscle. This injury forced him to miss the remainder of the summer swing, including the US Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took time to build the muscles back,\u201d Dimitrov admitted, specifically referencing his upper body. \u201cIt was a painful summer. I couldn\u2019t serve, couldn\u2019t forehand, all that stuff. I\u2019ve spent a lot of time in the gym. It was a progress in work, and seeing it now, it\u2019s obviously hard, but I\u2019ve been listening to my body.\u201d<\/p>\n

By choosing the Brisbane International over the United Cup, Dimitrov is returning to a \u201chome away from home\u201d. Bulgaria did not qualify for the United Cup this year, leaving the world No. 44 to focus purely on individual preparation for the Australian Open.<\/p>\n

Dreams open at Brisbane<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal primarily is to get out there and not have those doubts in my body, make sure he\u2019s 100%\u201d Dimitrov explained. \u201cI\u2019m not just talking about tennis, but being in control. I\u2019ve had a lot of people around me helping. My girlfriend has been such a support through a difficult schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Dimitrov, a two-time champion at Brisbane with titles in 2017 and 2024, can\u2019t help but dream of a third crown despite his return uncertainty. \u201cI\u2019m stepping on the court to compete, it\u2019s to always do my best and to is to conquer the tournament. And and I think this time is no different for me. My ranking (world No. 44) doesn\u2019t really like, speak for, for my game right now, but I believe that if I do the right things and stay healthy, if the body really allows me to to push through in a tough, tough moments during the match, I believe good things can happen\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grigor Dimitrov has officially signaled a \u201cnew chapter\u201d in his career by appointing Xavier Malisse from Belgium as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":377015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":["post-377014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}