Injury Forces Grigor Dimitrov Out of Rotterdam

Bulgarian tennis player, Grigor Dimitrov will not play the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam. As it turns out, he has suffered from shoulder tendinitis. The 27-year old has been dealing with this issue for a while, and he was forced to withdraw from the Dutch event.

Dimitrov defends 300 points in Rotterdam having lost last year’s final to Roger Federer, who will not play either, and he is set to leave the top 30 rankings. In Rotterdam Dimitrov will be replaced by the world No. 38 and 2016 champion Martin Klizan.

The world No. 7 Kei Nishikori will be the top seed, but he may miss the event due to a back injury that he suffered during the Australian Open. In an exclusive interview with Tennis World USA last year, the Rotterdam Open Tournament Director Richard Krajicek had explained how the comparison with Federer influenced Dimitrov: ‘For a long time the BabyFed was really tough for him’, Krajicek recognized.

‘He was a very talented player but of course, there is only one Federer. Dimitrov looks like Federer, he has a nice technique, good player, unbelievable guy like Roger, but it was difficult and not only to deal with Federer but also with Nadal, Djokovic, Murray who were still playing.’

In the men’s doubles draw the Australian Open champions Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut will try to defend their title in Rotterdam. Robin Haase and Matwé Middelkoop will pair up through a wild card. Dimitrov is committed to play the Mexican Open in late February next.

In last month’s Australian Open, Grigor Dimitrov made it as far as the Round of 16. Sadly, he ultimately lost to Frances Tiafoe in 4 sets. In fact, back in October, the Bulgarian hired tennis legend Andre Agassi to help his game improve.

“Just him sitting out there, watching my match, just giving me his time is the most valuable thing on earth to me,”