Dimitrov says he's found his tennis identity; Could it be Slam champ?

Even when a player’s results dramatically improve, it can be difficult to put your finger on what exactly has changed about his or her game. The grips, the strokes, the tactics, the movements, the mannerisms and the facial expressions are likely to look the same as they ever did. And so far that has been the case, at least for this observer, during Grigor Dimitrov’s sudden run of brilliance in 2017.

As of two years ago, the boy once known as Baby Fed had dropped out of the Top 10 and been chalked up by most fans as a lost cause. He was style over substance, a cautionary tale about talent gone to waste; the leader of Generation Soft, a group that appeared destined to spend their careers toiling futilely in the shadows of the Big Four.

Now Dimitrov has won his first 10 matches of 2017, a run that has taken him to his second Grand Slam semifinal (and first since 2014), and includes real-deal Top 20 wins over Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic, Dominic Thiem, Richard Gasquet and David Goffin. Even for hardened tennis fans, it has been a thrilling ride. Dimitrov, at his best, really does play the same type of appealingly varied and aggressive tennis that has made Federer the most popular player of this era.

What has changed so drastically?

My first observation was a simple and unhelpful one: “The shots that he used to hit out are now all going in.” In Brisbane and now Melbourne, Dimitrov has been setting up for his forehand earlier and hitting it for winners more often. His one-handed backhand, which has often been a shank-riddled liability in the past, has become steadier. And twice at the Aussie, against Denis Istomin and Hyeon Chung, Dimitrov has taken a quick first-set loss in stride and bounced right back to win in four.

Yet all of those things are the effects of improvement; the causes have remained a mystery.

It wasn’t until Dimitrov was asked, “In which specific ways have you matured?” that something in his answer clicked with me.

“I think my focus has been good,” Dimitrov said. “The mentality has been there. I’ve been present when I’m playing matches.”

“I’ve been present”: That was it. Watching Dimitrov for much of 2015 and 2016, he looked absent much of the time. His eyes were hollow and his body seemed to be going through the motions of playing tennis. The poor results weren’t a surprise. While Dimitrov isn’t any more demonstrative than he has been in the past, in 2017 the eyes are alive and the walk is determined again.

Dimitrov has taken his share of rides on the tennis-coaching carousel over the years. He’s been to Sweden, Paris and Southern California, and worked with people as varied as Peter McNamara and Franco Davin. Until now, he had his best run with Roger Rasheed, an Australian taskmaster known for his motivational skills. It seemed that the placid Dimitrov needed someone who was his opposite to kick him into gear. This time, though, he’s succeeding with a coach, Dani Vallverdu, who is just as mellow as he is. Opposites can attract, but compatibility usually works better in the long run.

“Now that I’m working with Dani, it’s also nice to have someone you can really get close to and share a lot,” Dimitrov told ATPWorldTour.com last summer. “We’re simplifying things, working on the right things in a way that helps you become a little bit calmer.”

According to Dimitrov, that can involve playing a match and then immediately going out to hone specific aspects of his game.

“We’ve been doing a lot of work, even after matches— working on small details, whether it’s backhand cross or backhand down the line—to try to make everything a little bit more automatic and lose yourself in the game,” he said.

“He’s determined to play the best tennis he can,” Vallverdu said. “During the past year he’s been struggling to find his own identity; he didn’t know which kind of player he was.”

Dimitrov and Vallverdu talk a lot about the Bulgarian’s “identity.” As a longtime prodigy sponsored by Nike, he tried too hard in the past to be a star, rather than just a player, and spread himself too thin.

“I have so many different interests in so many areas that sometimes I just need to chill, step back and let it be,” Dimitrov told ATPWorldTour.com.

Dimitrov, according to player and coach, was also spreading himself too thin on court. As was often said of the young Federer, Dimitrov had too many options; he needed to learn to pick the right one for the right occasion.

Once again, though, when it comes to shot selection, the differences in Dimitrov’s game from last year to this year are subtle. He’s using his backhand slice more, and more effectively. He’s doing more with his mid-court forehands when he gets them. He’s changing paces on his serve. But that doesn’t add up to a radical shift in his approach.

Mostly, I think there’s been a mindset change. When your coach says “keep it simple,” you tend to relax and play more instinctively. That alone is enough to help most players improve.

Dimitrov’s improvement could be seen most clearly at the end of the first set of his impressively one-sided 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal win over David Goffin, a player four spots ahead of him in the rankings.

The match was all even through the first seven games. The rallies were long, a fact that would normally favor Goffin. But it was Dimitrov who held firm, stayed patient and got his opponent to crack. With Goffin serving at 3-4, Dimitrov won a long game on his fourth break point.

In that rally, Dimitrov had a number of chances to go for an outright winner with his forehand from behind the baseline. The old Grigor would have pulled the trigger; after all, we’re always told that “being aggressive” is the only way to play. Instead, Dimitrov held his fire, sent a few forceful but safe rally balls back, and waited for something better. Goffin eventually missed, and Dimitrov never trailed again.

There’s a fine line between patience and passivity in tennis, and a fine line between using your weapons and overusing them. Dimitrov is learning to stay on the right side of both. It’s a subtle, almost invisible shift, but an exciting one. And it may be enough to give the boy once known as Baby Fed a new identity: Grand Slam champion.