Grigor Dimitrov admitted he did not know what to expect from his comeback from injury after making a highly impressive winning return to action at the 2025 Paris Masters.<\/p>\n
The world No 38 delivered a terrific display to claim a decisive 7-6(5), 6-1 victory against world No 56 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round of the Masters 1000 event.<\/p>\n
Dimitrov<\/a> had not played since July 7, when he was forced to retire in his fourth round Wimbledon match against Jannik Sinner after suffering a tear in his pectoral muscle. He had been leading 6-3, 7-5, 2-2 against Sinner, the eventual Wimbledon champion.<\/p>\n Grigor Dimitrov\u2019s superb comeback from injury in Paris<\/p>\n Grigor Dimitrov revealed he is \u201cstill trying to wrap my head around\u201d his time away from tennis after winning on his return in Paris Against Mpetshi Perricard in Paris, Dimitrov converted his second set point to take a very tight opening set on a tiebreak after both players had saved two break points.<\/p>\n The 34-year-old then, remarkably, broke the massive-serving 22-year-old Frenchman three times in the second set as he surged to the finish line in dominant fashion.<\/p>\n What Dimitrov said after beating Mpetshi Perricard<\/p>\n Following his win, Dimitrov spoke to commentator Lee Goodall in an on-court interview with Tennis TV. Here is the conversation in full.<\/p>\n Q. Grigor\u2026 many, many congratulations. This must be a wonderful night for you. Such a long time away from the tour. What\u2019s it like to be back, first of all? Welcome back!<\/p>\n Dimitrov: Yeah, thank you. Thank you guys. You know, never happened to me. So I think I\u2019m still trying to wrap my head around the whole time away from the court. It was never, never easy. I knew that coming to competition is just gonna be a difficult task. But again, I just wanted to come out and test myself, give myself a chance. I think, winning or losing tonight, I still would have felt like I\u2019ve given all I have. Of course, it\u2019s very difficult to adjust, especially playing against a player like him, you have to be aware throughout the whole time and stay focused. It doesn\u2019t matter how much experience you have, there\u2019s always that added stress, especially after so many months away. But listen, it\u2019s a good night. I\u2019m taking it in and just going one day at a time at the moment.<\/p>\n Q. We don\u2019t get to see what\u2019s going on behind the scenes on the way to the comeback. What\u2019s that been like? What kind of level were you expecting tonight? Was it a nice surprise? Not an easy first opponent, not much rhythm from that guy.<\/p>\n Dimitrov: No, definitely not. I didn\u2019t know what to expect, if I have to be completely honest. All I knew is that I have to look on my side of the net and really control what I could. And that was my serve, the way I was reading the game and playing my shots. In the tiebreak, anything could have happened. I missed those two fairly easy forehands. I had to stay within myself, I knew I\u2019m gonna get another chance. So all that again comes from the experience. But I really had, not much of an expectations for myself.<\/p>\n Tennis News<\/p>\n Grigor Dimitrov speaks out about his Wimbledon injury ahead of Paris Masters comeback<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThe Bulgarian spoke candidly about his pre-match expectations, and he also discussed playing at La Defense Arena, the new Paris Masters venue, for the first time
\nDimitrov\u2019s win saw him climb to fourth on the all-time Paris Masters win list, and he could face Daniil Medvedev in the second round<\/p>\n