Grigor Dimitrov described his summer as "painful" after suffering a shoulder injury at Wimbledon as the Bulgarian spent a lot of time rehabbing and building back his muscles.
Last year, the former world No. 3 suffered one of the most unfortunate injuries.
Playing against Jannik Sinner in the Wimbledon round-of-16, Dimitrov came up with great tactics and he was 6-3 7-5 2-2 up on the world No. 2. Then, a brutal injury occurred. While serving in the fifth game of the third set, the 34-year-old tore his right pectoral muscle. The match finished there.
Dimitrov missed the next four months before returning to action at the Paris Masters, where he defeated Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the first round before giving a walkover to Daniil Medvedev.
Dimitrov: It was a painful summer… I couldn't do anything
“It took time to build the muscles back. It was a painful summer. I couldn’t serve, couldn’t forehand, all that stuff. I’ve spent a lot of time in the gym. It was a progress in work, and seeing it now, it’s obviously hard, but I’ve been listening to my body," the 34-year-old explained, via Tennis Majors.
In late 2025, Dimitrov made some drastic changes to his team as he split with both of his coaches – Daniel Vallverdu and Jamie Delgado. The Bulgarian has since added former world No. 19 Xavier Malisse to his staff. The duo will debut at the Brisbane International, which starts on Sunday.
“Last year I felt like it started off my season pretty strong, so I’m looking forward to hopefully doing the same thing. But yeah, you never know what to expect at the start of the year. You’ve been practicing for a few weeks straight, so hopefully the things that I’ve been working on in practice can translate over," the Bulgarian said.
Dimitrov is a two-time champion in Brisbane, having won the event in 2017 and 2024.
