A Detailed Analysis Of Grigor Dimitrov's Tennis Game And How He Got Back Into The Top 10

Grigor Dimitrov is a Bulgarian tennis player born on 16 May 1991. He is currently ranked number 10 on the ATP Pepperstone Rankings. He turned pro in 2008 and has 9 titles. He most recently lifted the Brisbane Open title to end his 6 year long title drought since clinching the Nitto ATP Finals in 2017. 

He entered the tennis scene at a rather unfortunate time when the Big Three (Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic) were dominating the tour. He had faced the big names numerous times in his career and he managed to squeeze himself into the top-10 to attain a career high ranking of number 3 in 2017. However, it all went downhill from there as he was plagued with injuries. With more consistent wins and deeper runs at tournaments, he made his way back into the top-10 after making the finals at the Miami Masters in March 2024.

Grigor Dimitrov felt immense pressure during the early part of his career as he entered the game as one of the top-performing juniors and many drew comparisons between him and the great Roger Federer due to the similarities in their strokes, especially the single-handed backhand. While it was a burden to carry then, he later realised that the comparison was irrelevant and unfair as he found his own footing in the tennis scene. 

Racket Specifications 

Head Size: 97 sq. in. 

Strung weight: 350g

Length: 27”

Swingweight: 324

String pattern: 18x18

Strung Balance: 330mm (4 pts HL) 

Stiffness : 68RA 

Dampener: No 

Grigor Dimitrov’s racket, like many of the other pros on tour, is not the conventional off-the-shelf racket. It is a pro stock frame customised for the players. Dimitrov is known to be experimental with his rackets, trying out different weights and string patterns to find out the one that works for his game. The frequent racket change may have been a factor in his inconsistency on tour. He seems to have settled now with the racket with the specifications as above. 

He strings the racket with natural gut on the mains and Luxilon 4G on the crosses. The tension varies depending on the condition he plays in, and usually ranges between 23 to 24 kg (51-53 lbs). He strings at a rather low tension, possibly to off-set the control-oriented characteristics of his frame. 

Forehand

Dimitrov plays his forehand with a modified eastern grip, similar to Roger Federer. The eastern grip is less common in today’s tennis game as most players lean towards the semi-western or western grip due to the game’s shift towards more power and topspin. The modified eastern grip has worked well for Dimitrov and it still works effectively on the professional tour, though many say he could be more aggressive with a more flattened and faster-paced forehand. 

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In my opinion, the strongest aspect of Dimitrov’s forehand is his ability to bring his opponent out on their backhand wing with his inside-out forehand due to his well-adjusted swing path. His forehand is very similar to Roger Federer's, but the difference lies in their arm when they contact the ball, Dimitrov makes contact with a slightly bent arm while Federer makes contact with a fully straightened arm. 

Dimitrov's footwork is also a solid aspect of his game. As one of the few players who uses the one-handed backhand on tour, it is imperative to move well and fast enough to go around his backhand to hit a forehand for a reset or a winner when the opponent attacks that wing. 

In the early part of his career, however, he did not utilise his athleticism well enough and often found himself in a defensive position and unable to put sufficient pressure on his opponents.

Backhand 

Dimitrov is one of the few players who wields the one-handed backhand on tour. While having a one-handed backhand is not necessarily detrimental to a player, it is a shot that tends to be more vulnerable compared to the two-hander, especially so in today’s game, where players hit with more power and topspin. The one-hander needs a lot of timing, shoulder rotation, and core engagement to execute well. It is a shot that Dimitrov hits with elegance. 

Most of the other famous one-handed backhand players such as Roger Federer, Richard Gasquet and Boris Becker use the eastern backhand grip when hitting the backhand. As an outlier, Dimitrov uses a conservative continental grip when hitting the one-handed backhand, a rather unusual choice as the grip makes it harder to generate spin and has a shortened contact point with a lower margin for error. Despite this, he is able to handle high balls with relative ease.

His one-handed backhand was definitely the side that his opponents picked on early in his career. Now Dimitrov has found a way to hit it consistently and effectively during matches, adding slices into his game as well.

The slice backhand is also one of the most important strokes to master as a one-handed backhand needs more preparation time. When rushed, the slice backhand can effectively slow down the rally and reset, allowing the player to buy time for the next shot. Dimitrov incorporates the slice very well into his game. It is a high quality shot with depth most of the time, and the continental grip makes it easy for him to disguise his slices as he does not need to change his grip for it.

Overall Game 

Grigor Dimitrov plays with great variety. He is one of the rare raw talents with great build and physicality that the game has seen, standing at 1.91m tall with a lean and muscular frame. As such, many thought that his actions or decisions made off the court was a waste of his athleticism and talent he was gifted with. Perhaps, true to a certain extent, it cannot be denied that he was also struggling with injuries that put him out of form for a long while.

His resurgence in the rankings are fruits of his hard work and consistent efforts in training for years. The improvements in his shot-making, mental game and especially the attacking mindset on court is something that not many saw coming. 

Dimitrov currently has a W-L record of 22-6 this season, making him one of the top players on tour at the moment. He played extraordinarily well this season and has bagged a couple of big wins against the top 10 players such as Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev, Carlos Alcaraz and Hubert Hurkazc. The new-found aggression in his game had greatly boosted his confidence on tour.

One aspect of Dimitrov that has not been talked about much is his exceptional touch. He is in fact very good at the net and is unafraid to move up whenever he sees an opportunity. His volleys are solid on both wings and he is able to pick up great shots in split seconds. Already, in this season, we saw some amazing shots at the net that even caught Alcaraz off-guard. 

Dimitrov now boasts a different game compared to what he had in the past. He used to be more of a defensive baseliner where he would be far behind the baseline in a match. He also had a tendency to overplay the slices and drop shots which made him predictable. He now plays very aggressively, taking the ball incredibly early, improving his overall tactic with variety to better suit his strokes. His game has seen immense improvements with just small adjustments tactically over the years. Something clicked in him and he is now playing better and making deep runs at the tournaments once again. 

Dimitrov credited his recent renaissance to his open-heart, maturity and discipline. Just constantly putting in the hard work with consistency and support from his close ones, working to achieve small targets, one after another were the keys to his resurgence. I definitely hope that his run continues as not many of his generation remain competitive in this tough sport.