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FAMOUS TENNIS PLAYER
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 12/4/2020 12:19:36 PM
Grigor Dimitrov
Grigor Dimitrov is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 3, which he achieved in November 2017 after winning the ATP Finals. Dimitrov is the most successful Bulgarian male tennis player to date, both in terms of ranking reached —as of 2017 he is the only Bulgarian tennis player ever to be ranked inside the top ten ATP singles— and prize money won, being the only male Bulgarian player to reach US$1m and later $19m. Dimitrov is also the first (and only) Bulgarian male tennis player to win an ATP title in singles (after he won in October 2013 at Stockholm) and reach a final in doubles (in 2011) as well as the only Bulgarian male player to reach the third round or better at a Grand Slam tournament. Dimitrov is also the first Bulgarian to qualify for, and later win, the ATP Finals. He has won eight ATP singles titles to date. Prior to his professional career, Dimitrov enjoyed a successful junior career, in which he held the world No. 1 ranking and won consecutive grand slam boys' singles titles at the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 US Open— at the former he defeated future men's doubles No. 1 player Henri Kontinen in the final. After returning from injuries, Dimitrov beat Roger Federer for the first time in his career in five sets at the 2019 US Open, before losing to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals. Early life Dimitrov was born in Haskovo, Bulgaria to Dimitar, a tennis coach, and mother Maria, a sports teacher and former volleyball player, in 1991. He first held a tennis racket, given to him by his mother, at the age of three, and when he was five he began to play daily. In his early years his father served as his coach, but after the young Bulgarian proved his talent in the tournaments for juniors, he made it clear that he would have to develop in other conditions. At the age of 16, Dimitrov turned professional. In 2007, Dimitrov joined the academy "Sanchez-Casal", where he was further trained under the leadership of Emilio Sánchez and Pato Álvarez. A year later, Dimitrov moved to Paris, France, where he joined Patrick Mouratoglou's Tennis Academy and spent the next four seasons there. Personal life Dimitrov began dating Maria Sharapova in late 2012.