The moment when any organism becomes all that it is meant to be is always a pleasure to behold. Think of an apple, so heavy and ripe that next kiss of a breeze will send it falling to the earth with a pleasant “thunk.” Or regard the mayfly, drifting on the surface of a clear stream as its nymphal shuck breaks open to liberate the gorgeous, tiny creature inside. Or consider Ernest Hemingway, adding the period to the final sentence of his first great novel, The Sun Also Rises.
Could it be that Grigor Dimitrov, often referred to as “Baby Fed”—and now ranked No. 13 in the world—is on the cusp of just such a moment? A much-heralded prodigy for about five years now, the 23-year-old is facing what might be called a breakout moment at Wimbledon. If it isn’t exactly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (Stan Wawrinka won his first Grand Slam tournament a few months ago at age 28), a resounding victory by Dimitrov would suggest that he’s not just a potential blue-chip player slowly coming into his own, but a truly special athlete worth every bit of ink spent on him over the years.
But whoa, you say. He’s already 23—an age at which the use-by date of prodigy has passed. That’s true; the majority of players who won at least six Grand Slams in the Open era already had a few by Dimitrov’s age. At the same, Federer was almost 22 when he bagged his first major, at Wimbledon, and Andy Murray was 25 when he finally won a big one.
And true, Murray had established himself among the elite well before he punched through the Grand Slam gates at the 2012 U.S. Open. He did it by winning a slew of Masters 1000 titles, and thus far Dimitrov has been to just one Masters semifinal.
But winning a Grand Slam event remains a feat of a higher order of magnitude. It calls for something more, or perhaps something different. It also calls for a little luck. Can Dimitrov complete the assignment at Wimbledon starting next week?
