Grigor Dimitrov hints Sharapova split a factor in poor performance

Grigor Dimitrov has said that the emotional toll of his breakup with fellow tennis star Maria Sharapova in July has also somewhat negatively affected his recent run of poor form.

“Clearly, what is going on in my private life affects the tennis a little bit,” Dimitrov told told Swiss media outlet SRF. “Logically, tennis is my priority, I want to play as well as possible, but in the end I could not find the balance.”

The Bulgarian player made it clear, however, that the bad vibes in his personal life aren’t the only reasons behind the drop in his performance this season. Dimitrov, who had a solid chance of getting to the top of men’s tennis world rankings after a great campaign in 2014, said that he just couldn’t quite fathom what had really happened this year “on and off the court.” He revealed that he missed a lot of training sessions and felt less fit compared to 2014.

“I have somewhat neglected tennis because of other things. This is the phase that I’m going through.”

In July, US Weekly reported that Dimitrov and Sharapova had gone their own separate ways after dating for almost two years. Dimitrov confirmed the breakup during a press conference with the Bulgarian media. The announcement came only a few weeks after Dimitrov also announced that he and Australian coach Roger Rasheed had split after his third-round loss to Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon.

Prior his 2014 campaign, the 24-year-old had not been able to reach the third round of a grand slam tournament in all his 13 previous appearances, but last season, Dimitrov reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open and also reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon. In 2014, Dimitrov won three titles on three different surfaces, claiming victories in Acapulco on hardcourt, Bucharest on clay, and Queen’s club on grass. He kicked off the season ranked 23^rd in the world and broke into the top 10 for the first time in his career, making him the first Bulgarian player to ever achieve such feat.

This season, Dimitrov has slipped down to 29^th in the latest world rankings released Monday. He has a 31-21 win-loss record for 2015. His best appearance this season was making the final four of the 2015 Brisbane International.

Dimitrov last played at the 2015 Swiss Indoors Basel. He lost to second round to ensuing finalist Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-3.

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