Grigor Dimitrov - "The virus has hit me hard"
Grigor Dimitrov is back on the tennis court. That's the good news. The Bulgarian, however, is still far from his physical best after surviving Corona disease.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 27, 2020, 01:26 pm
Who knows: Maybe it was the getting used to the rules at the Ultimate Tennis Showdown in the academy of Patrick Mouratoglou that Grigor Dimitrov got to grips with during his first two appearances last weekend: First Dimitrov went down 4-0 against Richard Gasquet , On Sunday the Bulgarian Feliciano Lopez lost 2: 3 in Sudden Death.
In fact, Dimitrov is still struggling with the aftermath of COVID19 disease, which hit him a few weeks ago during the Adriatic tour. Dimitrov had initially set up in Belgrade and had traveled to Zadar with mild symptoms. And had to withdraw there weakened. The Adriatic tour was canceled, Dimitrov traveled home to Monte Carlo, where he recovered. Which has not been completely successful to date.
Defeat against Nadal in Acapulco
"Obviously, I'm not ready to act at my highest level," Dimitrov told Tennis Majors. “My footwork is getting better, everything else is going in the right direction, but it is still not easy to fully recover. The virus hit me hard, so I stayed at home for about a month. I couldn't breathe well, I felt bad. I was tired, had all the symptoms, no sense of taste, no sense of smell. Everything you can imagine. It was no fun. "
Dimitrov, who was defeated by Acapulco Rafael Nadal in the semifinals on his last trip on the ATP tour, should also have been one of the participants of Thiem's 7 in Kitzbühel. This commitment was canceled due to illness. "Somehow I'm just happy to be back on the court," continued Dimitrov. "You never know. In one day I feel really good and can work on myself for four hours, but then suddenly I have to shut everything down completely and lie down, rest. ”
Mental effort for Dimitrov
The past few weeks have not only left physical traces at Grigor Dimitrov. "I mean, you are at home alone for 24 hours for 20 days ... there are of course many things going through your head. It doesn't matter how mentally strong you are as a person, an athlete or anything else, it is inevitable that bad thoughts will arise. So I had to deal with that. ”
"This thing really exists. If we take the right precautions and everyone pays attention to safety, things will get better faster. ”