Grigor Dimitrov climbs to eighth in ATP Tour rankings
Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov returns to the ATP Tour circuit this week, nearly a month after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals, with a new career-best ranking of eighth in the world.
Dimitrov climbed up a spot in the rankings released on August 4 after Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro missed the Citi Open tournament in Washington, DC, where he was defending champion, because of injury.
The loss of points saw Del Potro slide two places down in the rankings, with Dimitrov benefitting despite not playing himself – he was scheduled to play in the Citi Open and was seeded third, but withdrew just before the tournament, citing the flu and a sinus infection.
Dimitrov broke into the top 10 following a month on grass courts that saw him win the Queen’s Club title in addition to the deep run at Wimbledon. He can now consolidate his position and stake a claim for one of the eight spots in the end-year ATP World Tour Finals on the North American hard courts; he is currently ranked sixth in the ATP Race to London standings.
Last year, Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals of the Citi Open (an ATP 500 event) and the third round of the Cincinnati Masters, but suffered first-round exits in the Toronto Masters and the US Open. Following his rise up the rankings over the past 10 months, which saw him win four titles on different surfaces in that span, Dimitrov will benefit from higher seeding this time around.
In Toronto, where he will play in the Rogers Cup this week, Dimitrov is seeded seventh and faces a straightforward path to the quarterfinal, where he could face Stan Wawrinka. As one of the top eight seeds, he has a first-round bye and is expected to play his second-round match on August 6.
(Grigor Dimitrov photo: mirsasha/flickr.com)