Dimitrov drops in the ranking: "I don't care if I lose points, for me what matters is.."

Streaming ATP Miami live tennis

🎾 Francisco Cerundolo vs Grigor Dimitrov

* You can watch and bet on this match live here..

Twelve months later, Grigor Dimitrov lands at the Miami Open 2025 with the mission of defending the 650 points from last year's final. This news confirms his prowess at the tournament, but also adds extra pressure not to lose positions in the rankings. Do you really think these matters concern the Bulgarian at 33 years old? The answer is no. The Haskovo native has already secured two wins this edition and will now face Brandon Nakashima in the round of 16. But before that, we heard him share some insights about his racket and a very specific pattern at Tennis Channel.

Victory over Khachanov

"I think he played incredibly during the first set. In fact, I believe I won more points and still ended up losing the set. It was a very decent start, but I was aware that I needed to be much more consistent in the match, improve my first and second serve percentages significantly. The feeling was that everything could be resolved in a couple of points, nothing more than that. We know each other very well, we have played several times, even trained together in preseason, so there are no secrets between us anymore."

The importance of serve and return

"During the match, one starts to focus on these parameters, but sometimes that can make you lose some attention. Not everything is about percentages. In my case, I like to take the time to study every detail, no matter how small, especially those related to the serve and return, the two shots that kick off everything in tennis. These two shots are crucial to put pressure on your opponent, especially on their service games. It definitely changes the situation playing with a first serve as opposed to a second serve, making you approach the rally differently."

A quirk of his racket

"I have always played with a unique pattern because of my one-handed backhand. I am used to competing with that uniqueness. A tennis player always has to adapt and adjust to different things, so I understand perfectly well the players who opt for changes at some point in their careers. My string pattern has been 18-18 for a long time. I am a player who needs to have that feeling with the ball and racket all the time, so that's what works for me."

Defending ranking points

"Tennis has these peculiarities, everyone knows them. Perhaps it is one of the most complex and challenging aspects of our sport. The player has to replicate what they did in the previous season every year; that's how it works, just as players from past generations did, going through ups and downs. No matter how many years pass, it will always be a complex element to deal with. It is normal these days to see multiple surprises in the early rounds of each tournament. Personally, I decided a while ago not to pay much attention to these things. I prefer to focus on my game, live day by day with more freedom. I don't care about losing points; what matters to me is how I feel on the court. If I compare these two feelings, the one that really matters to me is the second one."

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Dimitrov pasa del ranking: “Me da igual si pierdo puntos, para mí lo importante es...”