French Open: Grigor Dimitrov to Take a Sabbatical after Defeat

Following his shock defeat to Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco at the French Open, Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov announced a sabbatical from tennis.

The fourth seed, Dimitrov lost in straight sets, 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-4 to Verdasco on Court 1 at Roland Garros. The defeat comes a mere two days after being pushed to five sets by world number 57 Jared Donaldson.

The Bulgarian managed to reach the semi-finals at the Monte Carlo Masters before losing to Nadal. He also reached the last eight in Barcelona before Pablo Carreno Busta halted his run. Sadly, he suffered first-round exits at the Madrid Open and the Internazionali d’Italia.

Dimitrov has struggled on clay surfaces and has an 18-11 record on all surfaces this year. He knows that he needs to reflect on a disappointing spell by taking a break from the sport.

“I definitely need to take some time off now to kind of reassess the whole clay-court season, to be honest,” said Dimitrov.

“I think that’s going to be the number one priority for me now, to kind of step out from the tennis for a little bit, try to watch some matches and sort of try to progress somehow and just get better.

“How? I mean, we’ll figure [it out]. I don’t want to be too negative right now. I know it’s hard right after the match.

“I have always been a positive thinker, and I want to keep that on the same level right now. Obviously it’s tough when you lose a match, but that’s how it goes.”

Meanwhile, the French Open itself rages on. Some players like Alexander Zverev sweated while others like Novak Djokovic breezed through. Another of the upsets was number 10 seed Pablo Carreno Busta who lost to Marco Cecchinato.

Local favourite, Gilles Simon also lost his match to 19th seed Kei Nishikori. Meanwhile, the rain has played spoilsport again and suspended a few matches.